Bb Tuba

• Nov 6, 2018 - 18:01

Hello there,

When I take as an instrument in my score the Bb Tuba in treble clef (the part is in Eb) than I get 1 flat. But when I chose the Bb Tuba in bass clef I get 3 flats. How does this work?

Jorn Ooink

Attachment Size
Musescore Problem Bb Tuba.png 82 KB

Comments

The Tuba in Bb is named wrong in MuseScore. It should be called BBb Tuba which is written in the same key as a Tuba in the key of C, which is the most common. The treble clef Bb Tuba notation is played on the same instrument as the BBb Tuba, but has been transposed to make it easier for a trumpet player to learn how to play it.

Edit: There do seem to be bass clef Bb tubas and the naming gets rather confusing. When I played the Tuba, I would get BBb tuba music that was written in concert pitch like a tuba in C. It does seem that there is music written for the BBb tuba that is written for a transposing Tuba in Bb. I think it would be best if the developers change the Bb tuba to a transposing instrument to keep the difference clear.

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

According the the Wikipedia page Shoichi referenced, it's an old naming convention to show how low it was. They apparently also called the C tuba the CC tuba, but I don't remember having seen this before.

I think my experience shows an anomaly of history, and making it so it's not confusing to the majority of users is the way to go. Make the BBb tuba transposing.

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

Wagner called it "kontrabasstuba"

My experience is similar to Mike320

When I played it in junior high it was called "double b flat tuba" perhaps to differenciate it from the tenor B flat tuba. The BBflat tuba is generally used in brass bands. Its marching band counterpart , the sousaphone, is also a double Bflat instrument, also (mercifully) not transposing.

I think most European orchestras use the F tuba as a standard with an Eflat or the BBflat added as needed. The American orchestras prefer the CC. The British prefer the Eflat. All this is hashed out in https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Tuba

In reply to by Shoichi

Thank you... and your contributions are always helpful and interesting.

The tuba you've shown is awesome...and expensive. Great sound in all registers. I'm impressed.
Unfortunately, my first reaction to the first selection was an impression of a duck in urgent need of a laxative. (Much to thin, contrary to the size of the bell) Perhaps it sounds more musical in a live setting?

Does the poor thing have a name? I'm guessing contrabass saxophone or something.

In reply to by Ooink3011

But check with your teacher to be sure he really wants the part transposed. As explained previously, even though the instrument is called a Bb tuba (because its fundamental tone is a Bb), music for this instrument is not normally transposed. The way MuseScore does things by default is absolutely totally correct. It would be very unusual for someone to play bass clef tuba parts and want them to be transposed - that just isn't how it is done. At least, not in the US and most other countries, but I understand there are a very few regions of the world where this is more common.

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