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One of my friends is visiting for the weekend and brought his tuba and euph. We've been playing out of the Walter Sear Advanced Duets book. Duets are fun. What are your favorite tuba duet books/pieces?

Some of the ones in the back of the Arban book are fun, but a lot have thirds below the staff... very crunchy.

I must admit that my favorites are the O. Blume duets, which are written in the trombone / cello / bassoon range.

I enjoy playing them on the euphonium, or squeaking out the second part on the F tuba or F cimbasso.

I believe there are 12 of these which are all multi-movement and tend to get more difficult towards the higher numbered ones. I'll guess I would describe them as being in Classical / Rococo era style...(??)

One particular edition stays in bass clef. Obviously, that's my favorite.

They are also fun to play with a monstrously good trombonist playing the first book.

When I played Trombone I spent many happy hours playing duets with a pal. The book we used was Duets for Compatible Winds by Larry Clark published by Karl Fischer; the music isn’t what folk here would consider hard, pick the book to match your instrument and preferred clef- there is a Tuba version in bass clef. Beware the tenor clef Eb version because it has some particularly high notes (like D above the stave - concert pitch F).

We played through the Sear, some weird Nehlybel duets which I enjoyed, some Bach transcriptions, and Anthony O'Toole's 25 Duets for Low Brass. Also, a buncha orchestral and band excerpts. A fun weekend: four tubas and three and a half euphoniums between the two of us (counting the 1919 King double bell as 1.5).

If both or however-many play both tuba and baritone (or even if each/all only play one instrument), a lot can be learned from one working their way through a melody (that they BELIEVE they can sing, but aren't QUITE sure that they can play) and the other player(s) working through a good-sounding bass-line or harmony line (no music).

Don't think of this a "a different subject than duets belonging in a different thread"...but absolutely as duets, but (simply) without written-down parts.

If you can find them, 21 Distinctive Duets by Roger Jones are far and away the most applicable to actual commercial music I've ever played. My roomate at West Point(euphonium) and I played them Alot back then. Lots of different styles and grooves. Best, Ed

edfirth wrote:If you can find them, 21 Distinctive Duets by Roger Jones are far and away the most applicable to actual commercial music I've ever played. My roomate at West Point(euphonium) and I played them Alot back then. Lots of different styles and grooves. Best, Ed

Yup. Ray Grim turned me on to these. They are excellent. But the parts switch a bit, so a euph player will need good low chops.

They are perfect for F and C or similar.

Rick “performable in public” Denney

I´ll second that "play melodies and accompaniment" suggestion.
Works with folk songs as well as pop music that may be part of the "Great American Songbook"

In case that second person happens to be a pianist:
"Kunstlieder" by Schubert, Schumann, Wolff, Brahms etc.

Most of these are easy to negotiate technically, but all of them will provide a fun workout trying to make them sound good and tell a story.
They also come in large collections from which to single out those that won´t be overwhelming.
It helps if You´re living near a music school with an ambitious singing class:
Libraries and book shops might keep these in stock.