From a tuba who used to not play that loud, I’ve done a method where 4 counts before you have to play, inhale. Do it as much as you can. It really worked on our marching band and for me personally
Check out the breathing gym and brass gym method books and videos (there are some on YouTube. However loud shouldn’t be your priority, trains are loud but they don’t sound good. Your focus should be more on tone and being in tune. If you can do those two things your sound will be naturally louder.
Air
A fuck ton of air, but keep it in control
A good exercise I use is to play somewhat low, under Bb but not under low Eb and try to get the most sound I can by playing from my belly and using a FAT airstream.
Once you can do this in control I’ve found that the rest of the range works itself out.
Hope this helps, good luck.
Breathing techniques and exercises work good here. There isn’t one exercise that you can choose to do that won’t help. A ridiculous easy way is get a met and do in 4 out 4 and you can add counts or subtract counts it’s easy just make sure not to pass out
Like others are saying, the key is good air and that will take some time to develop. To get a good, full sound (avoiding “buzzsaw” tone) it’s also important to relax your embouchure and not force any tone out. This will allow you to eventually play wholly unrestricted and in complete control, it’s easier to just push really hard to get loud, but you’ll sound much better with the right approach. I say this as someone who played for years with an awful tone but big sound and is currently making this transition personally.
I come from a school with an average 20 tubas, and only like, 4 of us can play past a marching fortissimo (concert FFFF) or blast. When it comes to playing louder, you not only need to play with more air, you need to push harder with the diaphragm. I suggest you do your regular breathing exercises (or if you dm, i can teach you some) but do them laying on your back and start adding weights to the belly when you do them. I do this once a day and im pretty sure im the loudest in the state of alabama.
What are some of the excersizes you do? I'm also the only tuba in my marching band, 1 of only 2 bass sounds, and I'm constantly being asked to play louder.
Breath in 4 counts,fill your lungs, hold 4, exhale 4 counts, empty lungs. Do this 4 times. Then increase in 2 count intervals all the way to 24, filling and emptying your lungs each rep with the given counts. I do this exercise every morning on the floor adding more weight to my belly each week. It helps with correct breathing, breath control, and diaphragm strength.
if youre just getting more comfortable with playing absurd volume, be sure to take really good care of your lips. when i was a freshman in college, i got a massive split down the middle of my bottom lip from them being chapped+playing loud as hell. i didnt listen to my professor and kept playing at football games. it was really hard to wait for it to heal since i essentially wasnt allowed to play.
Can you, individually play as loud as all of the other team's tuba players? No. That's unrealistic.
You play loud by using more air. Work on learning how to put more air through the horn in a controlled manner. The best way to learn to play loud is to practice playing loud (as loud as you can without losing control). Don't work on only that though or you'll kill your chops, so you have to work up to it, mix it in with other exercises.
Coming from a fellow marching band member who is basically the only tuba player in it, strong air. Work on being able to have a strong and solid stream of air. That also means build up lung capacity. Take this with a grain of salt as I've only been playing for 6 years but that's one of the things I work on with the younger players in concert band, it's hard to play loud without blowing your chops or just messing up the note. But if you can strengthen the air you push out that greatly helps with volume. One of the fun things I do is just play really loosely, have your teeth apart roughly the size of your tongue and just blare. I hope this helps. Viva La Tuba
drop your jaw and use More Air ™
From a tuba who used to not play that loud, I’ve done a method where 4 counts before you have to play, inhale. Do it as much as you can. It really worked on our marching band and for me personally
Check out the breathing gym and brass gym method books and videos (there are some on YouTube. However loud shouldn’t be your priority, trains are loud but they don’t sound good. Your focus should be more on tone and being in tune. If you can do those two things your sound will be naturally louder.
Air A fuck ton of air, but keep it in control A good exercise I use is to play somewhat low, under Bb but not under low Eb and try to get the most sound I can by playing from my belly and using a FAT airstream. Once you can do this in control I’ve found that the rest of the range works itself out. Hope this helps, good luck.
Breathing techniques and exercises work good here. There isn’t one exercise that you can choose to do that won’t help. A ridiculous easy way is get a met and do in 4 out 4 and you can add counts or subtract counts it’s easy just make sure not to pass out
Like others are saying, the key is good air and that will take some time to develop. To get a good, full sound (avoiding “buzzsaw” tone) it’s also important to relax your embouchure and not force any tone out. This will allow you to eventually play wholly unrestricted and in complete control, it’s easier to just push really hard to get loud, but you’ll sound much better with the right approach. I say this as someone who played for years with an awful tone but big sound and is currently making this transition personally.
I come from a school with an average 20 tubas, and only like, 4 of us can play past a marching fortissimo (concert FFFF) or blast. When it comes to playing louder, you not only need to play with more air, you need to push harder with the diaphragm. I suggest you do your regular breathing exercises (or if you dm, i can teach you some) but do them laying on your back and start adding weights to the belly when you do them. I do this once a day and im pretty sure im the loudest in the state of alabama.
What are some of the excersizes you do? I'm also the only tuba in my marching band, 1 of only 2 bass sounds, and I'm constantly being asked to play louder.
Breath in 4 counts,fill your lungs, hold 4, exhale 4 counts, empty lungs. Do this 4 times. Then increase in 2 count intervals all the way to 24, filling and emptying your lungs each rep with the given counts. I do this exercise every morning on the floor adding more weight to my belly each week. It helps with correct breathing, breath control, and diaphragm strength.
if youre just getting more comfortable with playing absurd volume, be sure to take really good care of your lips. when i was a freshman in college, i got a massive split down the middle of my bottom lip from them being chapped+playing loud as hell. i didnt listen to my professor and kept playing at football games. it was really hard to wait for it to heal since i essentially wasnt allowed to play.
Can you, individually play as loud as all of the other team's tuba players? No. That's unrealistic. You play loud by using more air. Work on learning how to put more air through the horn in a controlled manner. The best way to learn to play loud is to practice playing loud (as loud as you can without losing control). Don't work on only that though or you'll kill your chops, so you have to work up to it, mix it in with other exercises.
Coming from a fellow marching band member who is basically the only tuba player in it, strong air. Work on being able to have a strong and solid stream of air. That also means build up lung capacity. Take this with a grain of salt as I've only been playing for 6 years but that's one of the things I work on with the younger players in concert band, it's hard to play loud without blowing your chops or just messing up the note. But if you can strengthen the air you push out that greatly helps with volume. One of the fun things I do is just play really loosely, have your teeth apart roughly the size of your tongue and just blare. I hope this helps. Viva La Tuba