How to march Tuba
Hey, there. You're probably here because your instructor can't provide an adequate explanation on how to march and probably just says you're doing it wrong without any sort of constructive criticism. Or you're just to afraid to ask for help. Yea, I know, I've been there too. So, I'm here to give my experience on how to march tuba properly. While I may not be an expert, I did march a few seasons on Tuba and did go to tournaments in Southern California.
Roll Step:
First and foremost, let's cover the roll step. Essentially, you want to be able to move on the field without your upper body moving up and down. If your body moves up and down, like when you are walking, the sound you will produce on your instrument will be unsteady and you will be able to hear every single bump in your step in the form of sound ripples. This is especially important for Tuba players because we tend to hold out notes for long periods of time.
Roll Step:
First and foremost, let's cover the roll step. Essentially, you want to be able to move on the field without your upper body moving up and down. If your body moves up and down, like when you are walking, the sound you will produce on your instrument will be unsteady and you will be able to hear every single bump in your step in the form of sound ripples. This is especially important for Tuba players because we tend to hold out notes for long periods of time.
To start with the roll step, try to imagine a string that connects the top of your head to a balloon. Keep that posture straight. Then bend your knees slightly and try to move without having your upper body moving up and down. Have your upper body glide through he field. To better practice this with your instrument, try to roll step when holding whole notes at 110bmp (Hint: Every step should be a quarter note). When you are doing this exercise, try to make the whole note sound as steady as if you were standing still. As you get more confident, change the tempo to go slower (this will help increase your lung capacity) or faster (this will help build the muscles in your shins).
With that, you know the basics to marching on tuba. Before you get any further than this, you must master the roll step. This is the basis to all marching techniques and it must be proficient in order to learn the more advanced parts of marching that we will cover in the future, such as, obliques, hastes, jazz running, and so on. By practicing your roll step you will be setting a solid foundation for future, more complicated marching techniques, increasing your lung capacity, and sounding better on the field. Honestly this is all you really need to start getting into marching tuba.
Good Luck
This is a great topic that I didn't know anything about. I never new why marching was necessary in a marching band, but now it totally makes sense. There are some issues with this, like why didn't you just change the title since it's not really about the tuba? Also, why is your image of somebody sitting down? Maybe you could have taken your own pictures?
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