Tuba — Mediated Wiki

{{Short description|Brass instrument}} {{Use American English|date=June 2026}} {{Use DMY dates|date=June 2026}} {{Other uses}} {{Infobox instrument | name = Tuba | image = Yamaha Bass tuba YFB-822.tif | caption = A bass tuba in F with front-action piston valves | background = brass | classification = {{hlist | Aerophone | Labrosone | Bugle }} | hornbostel_sachs = 423.231.2<ref name="MIMO-HS">{{Cite web |title=423.231.2 Valve bugles with wide bore |work=Hornbostel-Sachs Classification |publisher=Musical Instrument Museums Online |url= https://vocabulary.mimo-international.com/HornbostelAndSachs/en/page/2166 |access-date=31 May 2026 }}</ref>

| hornbostel_sachs_desc = Valved lip-reed aerophone with wide conical bore | inventors = Wilhelm Friedrich Wieprecht and Johann Gottfried Moritz | developed = 1835 in Prussia | range = <div style="text-align: center; background-color: white;"> <score lang="lilypond"> { \new Staff \with { \omit Score.TimeSignature } \clef bass \key c \major \cadenzaOn \omit Stem s4 ^ \markup "F tuba" \arpeggioBracket <f,, f'>1 \arpeggio \once \hide r1 s4 ^ \markup "C tuba" \arpeggioBracket <c,, c'>1 \arpeggio } </score></div>The tuba has a three octave tessitura above its first pedal tone{{sfn|Herbert|Myers|Wallace|2019|p=484|loc=Appendix 2: The Ranges of Labrosones}} (see § Range) | related = {{hlist | Euphonium | Sousaphone | Helicon | Contrabass bugle | Subcontrabass tuba | Wagner tuba | Baritone | Saxhorn | Ophicleide | Serpent | Cimbasso | Roman tuba }} | articles = | musicians = List of tubists | sound sample = {{listen|filename=Tuba-range-C-low.ogg |title=low register |embed=yes}} {{listen|filename=Tuba-range-C-high.ogg |title=high register |embed=yes}} }}

The '''tuba''' (Latin, "trumpet";<ref>{{cite web |title=tuba definition |work=Latin Dictionary |url= http://www.latin-dictionary.org/tuba |access-date=4 February 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150622120737/http://www.latin-dictionary.org/tuba |archive-date=22 June 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|UK|ˈ|tj|uː|b|ə}};<ref>{{Cite web |title=tuba (noun): Pronunciation |work=Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary |publisher=Oxford Learner's Dictionaries |url=https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/pronunciation/english/tuba |access-date=18 April 2021 |archive-date=7 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707144359/https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/pronunciation/english/tuba |url-status=live }}</ref> {{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|t|uː|b|ə}}) is a large brass instrument in the bass-to-contrabass range. It is a member of the ''valved bugles'', a large and diverse family of instruments characterized by their wide conical bore and use of valves to alter pitch. The tuba usually has four or five valves, although some models have three or six. Descending from the serpent and ophicleide, the tuba was invented in Prussia by Wilhelm Friedrich Wieprecht and Johann Gottfried Moritz and patented in 1835 as the {{lang|de|Baß-Tuba}}, pitched in 12-foot ({{prime|12}}) F. Its five valves provided a fully chromatic contrabass instrument with a deep, full contrabass ''timbre''.{{sfn|O'Connor|2007|p=1–3}}{{sfn|Forsyth|1914|p=530}} The tuba evolved through the 19th century as valves improved, and other makers contributed new designs and sizes. By the 1850s, Adolphe Sax had developed his E{{Flat}} and B{{Flat}} contrabass saxhorns which became standard in British brass bands, and Václav František Červený developed contrabass tubas in {{prime|16}} C and {{prime|18}} B{{Flat}} in the 1870s. A circular, wearable tuba called the helicon was designed for marching, and by the late 1890s was adopted and modified by John Philip Sousa as the sousaphone.

The tuba is used in the symphony orchestra as the bass of the brass section, and in chamber music as the bass of the brass quintet. Tubas are standard in brass, concert, and military bands, in American marching bands and Mexican banda music (often as the sousaphone), and is occasionally used in jazz and popular music. Since the mid-20th century, the tuba has been increasingly considered as a solo instrument, and has accumulated a substantial body of chamber and solo music, as well as notable concertos by composers including Ralph Vaughan Williams, Edward Gregson, and Kalevi Aho.

Tuba music is written at concert pitch in bass clef, except in brass bands where E♭ and B♭ tubas are written in treble clef as transposing instruments. The range of the tuba is large, due to the different sizes of instruments in use at different times and in different regional traditions. While the range from F{{sub|1}} to C{{sub|4}} (middle C) is easily accessible on any size of tuba, contemporary solo repertoire can include the pedal range to at least B{{Flat}}{{sub|0}} and up to at least C{{sub|5}}.

A person who plays the tuba is called a ''tubist'' or ''tubaist'',<ref>{{cite dictionary|url= http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tuba?show=0&t=1338078328 |title=Tuba |dictionary=Merriam-Webster |access-date=26 May 2012 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131029200553/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tuba?show=0&t=1338078328 |url-status=live}}</ref> or simply a ''tuba player''.

==History==  {{Multiple image | total_width = 260px | align = right | image1 = Manifattura italiana, Serpentone, fine sec. XVIII. Museo Civico di Modena, foto P. Terzi.jpg | image2 = MIMEd 4287. Gautrot Ophicleide in C.png | alt1 = Photograph of a serpent | alt2 = Photograph of an ophicleide | footer_align = left | footer = Tuba ancestors: serpent, ''left''; ophicleide by Gautrot, ''right'' (Museo Civico di Modena; University of Edinburgh) }} The tuba was developed to provide a low-pitched brass instrument, suitable for use in the brass sections of bands and orchestras.{{sfn|O'Connor|2007|p=1}} Before the emergence of the first valves in the 1820s, unmodified brass instruments like the natural horn or bugle were restricted to a single harmonic series. To expand the selection of notes available, either a slide (as on a trombone) or tone holes (as on a keyed bugle or serpent) were employed.{{sfn|Myers|2000|p=164}} Each of these options presented a problem for a low-pitched brass instrument. Natural instruments can only produce diatonic or chromatic scales in their high register, bass trombones of that era had long, unwieldy slides with handles, and the ''timbre'' of the serpent was often criticized.{{sfn|Yeo|2021|pp=128-31|loc="serpent"}}

=== Origins === {{further|Serpent (instrument){{!}}Serpent|Ophicleide}}

To replace the serpent and its various upright derivatives, the Paris-based maker Jean Hilaire Asté invented the ophicleide in 1817, extending the keyed bugle into the bass register with a folded, bassoon-like form.{{sfn|Herbert|Myers|Wallace|2019|page=303|loc="Ophicleide"}} It was enough of an improvement to be widely adopted in brass and military bands, and also in French orchestras, most notably by the composer Hector Berlioz.{{sfn|Bevan|1996|p=2}} In the 1820s, soon after the invention of valves, valved ophicleides quickly appeared ({{langx|de|Ventilophikleide}}, in Vienna; {{langx|fr|ophicléide à piston}}, and in Italy, the {{lang|it|bombardone}} or {{lang|it|pelittone}}). They had the same overall layout as the ophicleide, but were built with valves instead of keys and tone holes.<ref name="gmo-ophicleide">{{Cite Grove |title=Ophicleide |first=Reginald |last=Morley-Pegge |id=40954}}</ref> Some wide-bore variants were called ''bombardons''.<ref name="EB11-Bombardon">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Bombardon |first=Kathleen |last=Schlesinger}}</ref>

=== The first tubas ===

{{Multiple image | total_width = 260px | align = right | image1 = Musikinstrumenten-Museum Berlin - Baßtuba in F - 1107508 (rot1).jpg | image2 = MIMEd 4544. Contrabass saxhorn in E-flat by Sax, 1846.png | alt1 = Photograph of a Baß-Tuba | alt2 = Photograph of a contrabass saxhorn | footer_align = left | footer = Baß-Tuba in F by Moritz, 1839, ''left''; Contrabass saxhorn in E{{Flat}} by Sax, 1846, ''right'' (Musikinstrumenten-Museum Berlin; University of Edinburgh) }}

In Berlin, then part of Prussia, the military bandmaster Wilhelm Friedrich Wieprecht and the Berlin-based instrument maker Johann Gottfried Moritz invented the {{Visible anchor|Baß-Tuba|Baß-tuba|Baßtuba|text=''Baß-Tuba''|lang=de}}, described in their patent granted on 12 September 1835 (Prussian patent 9121). Wieprecht required an instrument capable of a secure contrabass compass for his bands, and although serpents and ophicleides were already in use, neither instrument could play much below C₂ into the contrabass range.{{sfn|Bevan|1996|p=2}} The ''Baß-Tuba'' was built in 12-foot ({{prime|12}}) F and used five {{lang|de|Berlinerpumpen}} valves (forerunners of the modern Périnet piston valves) to provide a chromatic compass down to F{{sub|1}}, its first fundamental or ''pedal tone''.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=202–207}} Berlin valves, invented by Wieprecht two years earlier, were better suited than the earlier Stölzel and Vienna valve designs for the larger bore tubing of these instruments, making the ''Baß-Tuba'' the first successful contrabass valved brass instrument.{{sfn|Bevan|1996|p=3}}

In Paris, the instrument maker Adolphe Sax, like Wieprecht, was interested in marketing families of instruments ranging from soprano to bass, and developed his ''saxhorn'' series of brass instruments pitched in E{{Flat}} and B{{Flat}}. Sax's instruments gained dominance in French military bands, and later in Britain and America. Their widespread success was a result of some popular instrument makers moving their operations, notably Gustave Auguste Besson, who moved from Paris to London, and Henry Distin, who started manufacturing them in London and later moved his business to the United States.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=427}}{{sfn|O'Connor|2007|p=10}} The saxhorns, with the addition of trombones, came to constitute almost the whole instrumentation of the modern British brass band. The modern E{{Flat}} and B{{Flat}} band tubas with top-action piston valves are little-changed from their 19th-century contrabass saxhorn ancestors, aside from a wider bore and the addition of a fourth compensating valve.{{sfn|Bevan|1996|p=4}}

The first marching tuba, called the helicon, is thought to have first appeared in Russia in the 1840s, and was first patented in 1848 by the Vienna-based maker Stowasser. Like the Ancient Roman buccina, its tubing is wrapped under the right arm with the bell resting on the player's left shoulder. The helicon became popular throughout Europe and North America, particularly for its suitability in mounted bands.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=450–451}}

By the 1850s, the Czech maker Václav František Červený was making families of band instruments with rotary valves in Austria-Hungary, including instruments in the bass and contrabass range. He introduced his ''Kaiserbass'' C and B{{Flat}} contrabass tubas in the early 1880s, characterized by the much wider bore still used by modern instruments. By this time, Červený was one of the largest manufacturers in Europe, supplying thousands of instruments to the Imperial Russian Army.{{sfn|Herbert|Myers|Wallace|2019|p=97|loc="Červený, Václav František"}} Russian nationalist composers and others in the late Romantic and 20th century periods began writing for these tubas.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=327}}

=== Early American tubas ===

{{Multiple image | total_width = 260px | perrow = 2/1 | align = left | image1 = Over-the-Shoulder bass saxhorn in E-flat MET DP-12679-056.jpg | image2 = Musikinstrumenten-Museum Berlin - Sousaphon in B - 1107434 (rot1).jpg | image3 = Police tuba players LCCN2014718048.tif | alt1 = Photograph of an over-the-shoulder bass saxhorn | alt2 = Photograph of a sousaphone | alt3 = Photograph of five NYC Police Band tuba players | footer = Early American tubas: Over-the-shoulder E♭ bass saxhorn 1870s, ''left''; sousaphone {{circa|1925}}, ''right''; New York City Police Band tuba players mid-1900s, ''bottom''. Metropolitan Museum of Art; Musikinstrumenten-Museum Berlin; Library of Congress | footer_align = left }}

In the United States, saxhorns had become popular by the mid-19th century, particularly in military and brass bands. In 1838, the New York maker Allen Dodworth patented his "over-the-shoulder" (OTS) instruments, with bells pointing backwards over the player's left shoulder, that included an E{{Flat}} bass model.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=427–429}} This design allowed soldiers, usually marching behind the band, to better hear the music.<ref name="villanueva">{{Cite web |title=Brass Bands of the Civil War |first=Jari |last=Villanueva |url=https://www.jvmusic.net/brass-bands-of-the-civil-war/ |access-date=2025-05-05 |website=JV Music - Musical Arrangements |language=en-US |archive-date=2025-05-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250505231000/https://www.jvmusic.net/brass-bands-of-the-civil-war/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Demand for bugles and OTS saxhorns grew, particularly in the 1860s during the American Civil War, and tens of thousands were made in the United States or imported from Europe. After the war, the bands and their music remained popular, and manufacturing demand remained strong.{{sfn|Pirtle|2002|p=70–71}} From these ensembles and musicians emerged the American drum and bugle corps tradition,{{sfn|Pirtle|2002|p=71}} and the mixed-winds concert music popularized by the band leaders Patrick Gilmore and John Philip Sousa.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=429–30}}

In 1893, Sousa, unhappy with the sound from his B{{Flat}} contrabass helicon tubas, had the Philadelphia instrument maker J. W. Pepper build a helicon with the bell pointing upwards, to better diffuse the sound. This ''sousaphone'' model, known as a "rain catcher", was later made by the American manufacturers Holton and C. G. Conn, who some time in the early 20th century turned the bell forward to create the iconic modern sousaphone form.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=456–457}}

An alumni of Sousa's band, the Danish-born August Helleberg was the founding tubist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1891 and with the Philharmonic Society of New York in 1897. He became renowned in his day as a member of the Sousa Band, and developed a tuba mouthpiece with a particular funnel-shaped profile. Helleberg's mouthpiece design, later manufactured by C. G. Conn, became very popular with tuba players and has been widely copied by many other makers.{{sfn|Yeo|2021|p=69|loc="Helleberg, Anders Christian August"}}

=== The tuba in Italy ===

The Italian word {{lang|it|cimbasso}} is thought to be a contraction of the term {{lang|it|corno basso}} ({{lit.|bass horn}}), which first appeared in scores as ''c. basso'' or ''c. in basso'' in the 1820s. Initially, the cimbasso was a form of upright serpent or bass horn, but over the course of the 19th century the term was used loosely to refer to the lowest bass instrument available in the brass family, including the ophicleide and early Italian valved instruments such as the ''pelittone'' and ''bombardone''.{{sfn|Meucci|1996|p=144–5}} The Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi, dissatisfied with the sound of these instruments, commissioned a valved contrabass trombone, built in the 1880s for his late operas.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=414}} By the early 20th century, this instrument, which Verdi and Giacomo Puccini called simply the ''trombone basso'' in their opera scores, had disappeared from Italian orchestras, replaced by the tuba.{{sfn|Bevan|1997|p=297–298}}{{efn|The modern cimbasso, commonly called for in film and video game soundtracks, was revived from Verdi's instrument, via the German contrabass trombone in F, in the early 1980s.{{sfn|Bevan|1997|p=297–298}} }}

=== Twentieth-century developments ===

{{Multiple image | total_width = 280px | align = right | image1 = MIMEd 2131. Higham tuba in F.png | image2 = MIMEd 2925. French C tuba with 6 valves by Couesnon.png | image3 = MIMEd 6135. Recording tuba in B-flat by Holton, 1928.png | alt1 = Photograph of a British F tuba | alt2 = Photograph of a small French C tuba with six valves | alt3 = Photograph of a recording tuba with a forward-pointing bell | footer = British "Barlow" model F tuba, ''left''; French C tuba, ''center''; Holton recording tuba, ''right'' (University of Edinburgh) | footer_align = left }} In Britain, the English F tuba was first produced in 1887 with five non-compensating piston valves. Harry Barlow, appointed to Hallé Orchestra in 1894, had his F tuba built {{circa|1897}} by Higham of Manchester (this instrument is now in the University of Edinburgh collection).{{sfn|Bevan|2000|pp=375–385}} By the 1960s these "Barlow" tubas were scarce and expensive, and there were legal restrictions on importing instruments, so British orchestral players switched to the readily available brass band E{{Flat}} tuba with four compensating valves.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=385}}

From the late 19th century until around the 1950s in France, the orchestral tuba was the small French tuba built in 8′ C with six piston valves. It was based on the euphonium-sized bass saxhorn, which had been built since the 1850s. It quickly became standard in French orchestras and was the tuba used by French composers of that time.<ref name="kleinsteuber-2017">{{Cite thesis|title=An Argument in Favor of the Saxhorn Basse (French Tuba) in the Modern Symphony Orchestra |last=Kleinsteuber |first=Carl |date=2017 |institution=University of North Texas |degree=DMA |url= https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc984120/ |access-date=9 May 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221005191453/https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc984120/ |archive-date=5 October 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> The difficult high orchestral excerpts for tuba are often from these French tuba parts. One example is the "Bydło" tuba solo in Maurice Ravel's 1922 orchestration of Mussorgsky's ''Pictures at an Exhibition'', although the part descends to low F{{sub|1}} in other movements.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=347-348}}

{{Image frame | align = center | width = 620 | innerstyle = background:white;padding:0.4em | caption = Tuba solo from the "Bydlo" movement of Maurice Ravel's 1922 orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky's ''Pictures at an Exhibition''; the part was written for the small French C tuba | content = <score lang="lilypond"> \layout { ragged-right = ##t \context { \Score \omit BarNumber } } \relative c { \time 2/4 \tempo "Sempre moderato pesante" \clef bass \key gis \minor r4 dis~( \pp ^ "Solo" | dis8 _ \markup {\italic "poco a poco cresc." } fis16 e) dis8-- e-- dis8-- gis-- ais-- b-- | ais4--( gis8--) r | cis4--( gis'8) r | cis,4--( gis'8--) gis-- dis4-- cis-- \break b8( dis ais4) | gis4-- fis8( e | \mark \markup { \box \small \bold "38" } dis) r dis4~( dis8 fis16 e) dis8-- e-- | dis8-- gis-- ais-- b-- | ais4--( gis8) r | cis4( e8) r | \break e4 e-- | d2~( \< | d4 bis8) \! r | cis4( gis'8) gis | dis-- b-- ais4--( |gis4~ \f gis8) r } </score> }}

In the early days of recorded music in the 1920s, ''{{Visible anchor|Recording|Recording tuba|Recording tubas|text=recording tubas}}'' were made with the bell pointing forward ({{lang|fr|pavillon tournant}}) so that the sound could be directed towards the recording microphone. Extra players with recording tubas were sometimes brought in to play string section double bass parts.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=448}}

=== The Chicago Yorks ===

In 1933, Alfred Johnson, the production chief at the Michigan-based York Band Instrument Company, made two large C tubas for the conductor Leopold Stokowski, who wanted an organ-like tuba sound for the Philadelphia Orchestra.{{sfn|Quinones|2025|p=19}} One of these instruments eventually went to Arnold Jacobs, a student at the time. Jacobs later became principal tubist at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and an influential 20th-century tuba pedagogue and player.{{sfn|Yeo|2021|p=171|loc="Yorkbrunner"}} Both instruments, known as the "Chicago Yorks", were eventually purchased by the orchestra, and are played by the current principal tubist, Gene Pokorny. Due to the quality of their sound and ease of playing, they are described by many American players and technicians as "the greatest tubas ever made",{{sfn|Quinones|2025|pp=17–18}} and have been the subject of much measurement, analysis, and attempts to recreate them.{{sfn|Quinones|2025|pp=21–22}} Replicas include the "Yorkbrunner" HB50 and HBS510 models by the Swiss instrument company Hirsbrunner{{sfn|Yeo|2021|p=171|loc="Yorkbrunner"}} (now made by the Dutch maker Adams),<ref>{{Cite web |title=CC 6/4 tuba |work=Together in Music |publisher=Adams Musical Instruments |publication-place=Ittervoort |url=https://www.adams-music.com/en/adams/brass/tubas/cc |access-date=7 January 2026 |archive-date=8 January 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260108043540/https://www.adams-music.com/en/adams/brass/tubas/cc |url-status=live }}</ref> the Yamaha YCB-826 "Yamayork" model,<ref>{{Cite web |title=C Tubas: YCB-822 |publisher=Yamaha Corporation |publication-place=Tokyo |url=https://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical_instruments/winds/tubas/ycb-822/index.html |access-date=7 January 2026 |archive-date=3 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250803030648/https://usa.yamaha.com/products/musical_instruments/winds/tubas/ycb-822/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the B&S 3198,<ref>{{Cite web |title=CC-Tuba 3198 - Lacquer |publisher=B&S |publication-place=Markneukirchen |url=https://eu.b-and-s.com/bs_others_en/cc-tuba-3198-lacquer-bs3198-1-0gb.html |access-date=7 January 2026 |archive-date=12 January 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260112035402/https://eu.b-and-s.com/bs_others_en/cc-tuba-3198-lacquer-bs3198-1-0gb.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and the Wessex TC-695 "Chicago York" tuba.<ref>{{Cite web |title=TC695 HP: CC 6/4 Front-Piston Tuba 'Chicago-York' |publisher=Wessex Tubas |publication-place=Andover |url=https://www.wessex-tubas.com/products/cc-6-4-front-piston-tuba-chicago-york-tc695 |access-date=7 January 2026 |archive-date=6 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250806122243/https://www.wessex-tubas.com/products/cc-6-4-front-piston-tuba-chicago-york-tc695 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2009, samples from old York tubas revealed they were made from a "gold" brass with a high copper content of 80 percent.{{sfn|Quinones|2025|p=228}} About 100 York-inspired tubas were built by the California-based producer Kanstul Musical Instruments before the business closed in 2019.{{sfn|Quinones|2025|pp=307-311}}

=== The tuba in jazz ===

[[File:JohnnyBayersdorfferOrch.jpg|thumb|Chink Martin (''far left'') on sousaphone in Johnny Bayersdorffer's Novelty Orchestra, New Orleans, 1922]]

While the ''New Orleans Blue Book'' of ragtime standards from {{circa|1900}} contained parts for tuba, they were only included as an alternative to the string bass parts, likely for outdoor performances. The tuba did not appear in early jazz bands until the 1920s, usually as the sousaphone, playing only ''oom-pah'' with occasional short solo breaks.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=441}} The earliest known recordings with tuba were with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings in 1923, with Jelly Roll Morton on piano and Chink Martin on tuba.{{sfn|Call|1996|p=529}} This continued to be the main role for jazz tuba through the dance era of the 1920s and 30s and the Dixieland and trad-jazz revival of the 1940s.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|pp=440–441}}

The poor bass sensitivity of early recording technology meant that many jazz string bass players were expected to also play tuba. In the 1920s, New York musician Joe Tarto, adept at both, performed and recorded with almost every jazz musician of the time, including Bix Beiderbecke and Tommy Dorsey.{{sfn|Call|1996|p=529}} He later played with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra and published a jazz bass method, ''Basic Rhythms and the Art of Jazz Improvisation''.{{sfn|Graves|2006|p=458}}

As the recording technology improved in the 1930s, players moved back to string bass.{{sfn|Call|1996|p=529}} The big bands that became prevalent in the swing era during World War II did not include the tuba in their standard instrumentation of trumpets, trombones, saxophones and rhythm.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=441}}

[[File:Birth of the Cool.jpg|thumb|left|The jazz recordings on ''Birth of the Cool'' (1957) by Miles Davis are some of the first to use tuba, recorded 1949–50 ]] In the late 1940s, the tuba was reintroduced into cool jazz by the jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. Inspired by the band led by Claude Thornhill, he organized an ensemble of nine players that included Bill Barber on tuba. Barber plays on several Miles Davis recordings in arrangements by Gerry Mulligan and Gil Evans, including the session compilation ''Birth of the Cool'' (1957, recorded 1949–50), and the later albums ''Miles Ahead'' (1957) and ''Sketches of Spain'' (1960).{{sfn|Call|1996|pp=530–531}} In the 1950s, American band leader Stan Kenton explored using different instruments like the mellophonium to create a warm enveloping sound especially in ballads, and in 1955 made his fifth trombonist double on tuba to make use of its distinct timbre.<ref>{{Cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |date=14 January 2021 |title=Howard Johnson, 79, Dies; Elevated the Tuba in Jazz and Beyond |last=Russonello |first=Giovanni |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/14/arts/music/howard-johnson-dead.html |access-date=8 December 2025 |archive-date=15 January 2021 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210115081541/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/14/arts/music/howard-johnson-dead.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Although still not commonly found as a solo instrument in modern jazz, it has featured in ensembles and recordings since the 1970s. The Tubajazz Consort was set up in 1976 by the tubist Harvey Phillips and euphoniumist Rich Matteson. New York jazz musician Howard Johnson started in the Charles Mingus band and became a leading tuba soloist and band leader in his own right, leading the NBC Saturday Night Live Band.{{sfn|Call|1996|pp=531–32}} Bob Stewart, tubist and professor of jazz history at Juilliard School, has played tuba with many jazz players including Mingus, Gil Evans, Arthur Blythe, and Henry Threadgill.{{sfn|Bogdanov|Woodstra|Erlewine|2002|p=1197}} Stewart's solo in the title track of Blythe's 1979 album ''Lenox Avenue Breakdown'' was described in ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz'' as "one of the few genuinely important tuba statements in jazz."{{sfn|Cook|Morton|2004|p=173}} In the 1980s and 90s, the Los Angeles tubist Jim Self and Samuel Pilafian of The Empire Brass Quintet made several jazz recordings.{{sfn|Call|1996|pp=532}}

Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the sousaphone has made a comeback in jazz and contemporary music due to an influx of musicians from New Orleans to other cities. In 2024, New York tubist Marcus Rojas stated that there are "two tubas on late-night TV. That would have been unheard of 15 years ago!" Tuba Gooding Jr. plays in The Roots on ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'', and Ibanda Ruhumbika appeared in The Late Show Band on ''The Late Show with Stephen Colbert''.<ref name="west-2024-jazztimes">{{Cite web |title=Tuba in the House |last=West |first=Michael J. |work=JazzTimes |date=13 May 2024 |url=https://www.jazztimes.com/features/profiles/tuba-in-the-house/ |access-date=17 February 2026 |archive-date=15 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241015221418/https://jazztimes.com/features/profiles/tuba-in-the-house/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Construction ==

In the classification scheme of musical instruments, the tuba is considered a bass valved bugle.<ref name="MIMO-HS"/> The valved bugles form a large family of brass instruments that includes the euphonium, flugelhorn, and the wider-bored members of the saxhorn family. They are distinguished by having a wide conical bore and valves.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=}} The bore of bugles is a wider conical shape compared to other brass instruments, such as the horn or cornet, which are, in turn, wider than the cylindrical-bore trumpet and trombone. The wider conical shape causes the instrument to favor lower spectral content, producing a mellow, warm ''timbre''. The tuba bell's large diameter and the wide rate of taper of the tubing leading to it combine to amplify these lower frequencies and produce a deep contrabass sound.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=}}

=== Sizes ===

Tubas are made in four pitches, determined by the length of the open tubing with no valves engaged. The smaller '''{{Visible anchor|Bass tuba|Bass|text=bass tuba}}''' is built in 12-foot (12′) F or 13′ E{{Flat}}, while the larger '''{{Visible anchor|Contrabass tuba|Contrabass|text=contrabass tuba}}''' is built in 16′ C or 18′ B{{Flat}}. Often the contrabass tubas are called "CC" or "BB{{Flat}}" tubas, based on an archaic English variant of the Helmholtz pitch notation. The terms ''bass'' and ''contrabass'' are not often used by composers, with the choice of instrument left to the player, often based on the desired timbre rather than the range required by the part.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|pp=33–34}}

; F tuba : The modern F tuba descends from the original 1835 {{lang|de|Baß-Tuba}} in F. It is commonly used by professional players as a solo instrument, or to play higher parts in orchestras where a C tuba would be the usual instrument. In most of Europe, the F is the standard orchestral tuba, the larger C or B{{Flat}} tuba used only when the extra weight is desired.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=39}} In Vienna, the {{lang|de|Wienerkonzerttuba}} is an F tuba with six rotary valves, three for each hand. The British orchestral tuba from the late 19th century until the 1950s was in F with four or five piston valves, and a narrower bore profile closer to that of the euphonium.{{sfn|Bevan|1996|p=8}}

; E♭ tuba : The E{{Flat}} tuba is most commonly found in brass and military bands. Often called the "E♭ bass" in bands, {{sfn|Myers|2000|p=170}} it is built in saxhorn form with three top-mounted piston valves, and usually a fourth compensating valve on one side. In British orchestras, the E{{Flat}} tuba displaced the old British F tuba in the 1960s, and is still found in British orchestras today, although some players have adopted the C tuba since the 1990s.{{sfn|Bevan|1996|p=8}} E{{Flat}} tubas are also sometimes found in German form with five rotary valves, mostly in Scandinavian orchestras.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=40}}

; C tuba : The tuba in C (sometimes denoted "CC") is the most widely used orchestral tuba outside of Germany and Russia, and all professional models have five non-compensating valves.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=41}} It is also found in concert bands in the US. On piston-valve C tubas, the fifth valve is usually a rotary valve.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=49}}

; B♭ tuba : The largest tuba, the contrabass in B{{Flat}} is the tuba of choice in German, Austrian, and Russian orchestras, usually with rotary valves. In the United States, the B{{Flat}} tuba usually has front-action piston valves. It is the most common in schools, largely due to the use of B{{Flat}} sousaphones in high school marching bands. The B{{Flat}} tuba is also built in saxhorn style with three top-mounted piston valves, and usually a fourth compensating side valve. It is standard in British brass bands,{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=41}} where it is often denoted as the "BB♭ bass" or the "double B".{{sfn|Myers|2000|p=170}}

==== Quarter designation ====

Tubas of the same pitch will have the same length of tubing but can vary in other dimensions, such as overall width of the tubing sections, bell diameter, and the rate of bell taper. These measurements are categorized with a sizing scale denoted in quarters, with 4/4 designating a full-size tuba.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=36}} Smaller instruments, often student or intermediate models with only three valves, may be described as 3/4 or even 1/2 size instruments. These are common in schools, where a full-size tuba may be too large, or in marching bands to reduce weight.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=277}} Larger instruments are denoted as 5/4, or 6/4 for the largest tubas, sometimes known as ''grand orchestral tubas''. These include the Conn 36J "Orchestra Grand Bass" from the 1930s, and the well-known large Chicago York tubas popularized by Arnold Jacobs and replicated by several makers.{{sfn|Quinones|2025|pp=17–19}} The designations have no standardized measurements of bore widths or bell diameters, but are useful for comparing models in a single manufacturer's catalog.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=36}}

==== Other sizes ====

The euphonium, pitched in 9′ B{{Flat}} a fourth above the bass tuba in F, is sometimes referred to as a '''{{Visible anchor|Tenor tuba|Tenor|text=tenor tuba}}''', particularly by British composers.<ref name="Grove">{{Cite Grove |last=Bevan |first=Clifford |author-link=Clifford Bevan |title=Euphonium |id=09077}}</ref> This term can also refer specifically to the German {{lang|de|Baryton}}, a similar instrument in B{{Flat}} with rotary valves.{{sfn|O'Connor|2007|p=10–11}} These instruments are used to play tenor tuba parts, ophicleide parts, and high tuba parts written for the similarly sized small French tuba.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=232}}{{sfn|Bowman|2007|p=251}}<ref name="kleinsteuber-2017"/>

A small number of very large novelty subcontrabass tubas have been built, and four playable instruments with functioning valves survive, mostly in museums.<ref name="Detwiler-known-subcontras">{{Cite web |title=Gallery: Known Subcontrabass Tubas |last=Detwiler |first=Dave |work=Strictly Oompah |date=6 February 2021 |url=https://tubapastor.blogspot.com/2021/01/gallery-known-subcontrabass-tubas.html |access-date=18 December 2025 |archive-date=19 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251219050711/https://tubapastor.blogspot.com/2021/01/gallery-known-subcontrabass-tubas.html |url-status=live }} The 26′ E{{Flat}} specimen in the Henri Selmer Paris museum is technically a contrabass.</ref> In 2019, the Harvard University Band restored "La Prodigieuse", a 36′ B{{Flat}} instrument pitched an octave below the B{{Flat}} contrabass built in the 1890s by Besson.{{sfn|Yeo|2021|p=141-2|loc=subcontrabass tuba}} Another survives in the same pitch, built by Bohland & Fuchs and first exhibited in 1928.<ref name="MTR-1928">{{Cite journal|title=Bohland & Fuchs Show Largest Brass Bass Horn |journal=The Music Trade Review |volume=87 |number=8 |date=25 August 1928 |page=16 |url= https://elibrary.arcade-museum.com/classic/Music-Trade-Review/1928-87-8/16 |access-date=23 December 2025}}</ref> In 1956, a 32′ C tuba built {{circa|1899}} featured in the first comedy Hoffnung Music Festival,{{sfn|Yeo|2021|p=141-2|loc=subcontrabass tuba}} and a 36′ B{{Flat}} ''Riesentuba'' with four rotary valves was built in 2010 and resides in the Markneukirchen Musical Instrument Museum.<ref name="Detwiler-2019">{{Cite web |title=The wonderful world of Giant Tubas! |last=Detwiler |first=Dave |work=Strictly Oompah |date=31 May 2019 |access-date=13 September 2024 |url=https://tubapastor.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-wonderful-world-of-giant-tubas.html |archive-date=12 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240912224022/https://tubapastor.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-wonderful-world-of-giant-tubas.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Variants ===

{{Multiple image | total_width = 260px | align = left | image1 = Yamaha Contrabass tuba YBB-641.tif | image2 = Yamaha Contrabass tuba YBB-321.tif | alt1 = Photograph of a Yamaha tuba | alt2 = Photograph of a Yamaha tuba | footer = Main styles of tuba: the German style (''left'') has "front action" valves right of the bell; the French or saxhorn style (''right'') has "top action" valves left of the bell. Yamaha Corporation | footer_align = left }}

The development of tubas took place in several regions throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, resulting in many different forms with different bores, bell tapers and sizes, and different types and numbers of valves.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|pp=31–33}} Broadly, tubas can be divided into two main groups: "German style" and "French style."{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=212|loc=Fig. 4.9}}

The "German style" tubas, derived from the ''Baß-Tuba'' and later tubas by Červený, have the leadpipe attached to the left side of the bell (facing the player), and the tubing and valves to the right, with the valves mounted in the middle and operated from the front ("front action").{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=49}} These tubas usually have rotary valves. Exceptions include some American tubas from the late 19th century, and the early-20th-century York tubas, which use piston valves oriented horizontally to be in the same position as the usual rotary valves.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|pp=198, 283}}

The saxhorn-derived, "French style" tubas have piston valves mounted vertically and operated from the top of the instrument ("top action"), and the leadpipe from the mouthpiece is attached to the right side of the bell, with the valves and tubing positioned to the left. These are common in France, Britain, and throughout the British Commonwealth, particularly in brass and military bands.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=49}}

For all of these instruments, the valves are operated by the right hand. Saxhorn-style instruments with a fourth compensating valve often place the fourth valve on the side, operated by the left hand.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=49}}

==== Tubas for marching ====

{{Multiple image | total_width = 260px | align = right | perrow = 2/2 | image1 = EuphoniumAndTuba wb (crop).jpg | image2 = French Republican Guard cavalry fanfare (1) crop.jpg | image3 = University of Illinois (13240029053) crop1.jpg | image4 = Columbus saints indy 14 03 (crop).jpg | alt1 = Photograph of a bandsman playing a tuba | alt2 = Photograph of a helicon player on horseback | alt3 = Photograph of a player marching with a sousaphone | alt4 = Photograph of a drum and bugle corps player playing a contrabass bugle | footer = E{{Flat}} bass with marching harness, ''top left''; helicon on horseback, ''top right''; sousaphone, ''bottom left''; drum and bugle corps contrabass bugle, ''bottom right'' | footer_align = left }}

Standard tubas can be played whilst standing and marching, which is the usual practice in British brass bands and military bands. For player comfort and to avoid strain or injury, a strap joined to metal rings soldered onto the tuba or a harness for the bottom bow are used to take the weight, via an over-shoulder strap or waist band.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=293}}

In North America, most marching bands use the sousaphone, wrapped under one arm with the bell resting on the opposite shoulder, which is easier to carry and play while marching.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Detwiler |first=Dave |title=Heritage: Marching Through the Early History of the Sousaphone |journal=ITEA Journal |date=2015|volume=42 |number=2 |pages=27–29}}</ref>{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=450–451}} The earlier helicon, from which the sousaphone was derived, is also used by bands in Europe and other parts of the world.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=454}}

The contrabass bugle is a marching adaptation of the tuba carried on the shoulder, designed specifically for use on the field. First introduced in 1959 for drum and bugle corps, these instruments were initially built in {{prime|21}} G, in accordance with the rule at the time that all brass instruments in corps be pitched in G, and generally have two valves.{{sfn|Pirtle|2002|p=76}} Following a rule change in 2000, they have been built with three or four valves and pitched in B{{Flat}}.<ref name="bd-dci-2000">{{Cite web|title=Multi-key Instrument Rule Change |first=Dave |last=Gibbs |date=7 January 1999 |publisher=BD Performing Arts |publication-place=Concord |url= https://bluedevils.org/news/article.php?ID=14 |access-date=17 February 2026 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20260311044932/https://bluedevils.org/news/article.php?ID=14 |url-status=live |archive-date=11 March 2026}}</ref> Since the transition to B{{Flat}} instruments, they are more commonly referred to as ''marching tubas''. Some models can be converted from a standard concert configuration into a marching configuration.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Evolution of the North American competition bugle 1968 through 2006 |first=Scooter |last=Pirtle |date=2007 |work=The Middle Horn Leader |url= http://www.middlehornleader.com/Evolution%20of%20the%20Bugle%20--%20Section%204.htm |access-date=16 March 2026 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250530101324/http://www.middlehornleader.com/Evolution%20of%20the%20Bugle%20--%20Section%204.htm |url-status=live |archive-date=30 May 2025}}</ref>

=== Valves ===

Modern tubas are made with either piston valves or rotary valves.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=49}} Rotary valves, patented in Prussia by Joseph Riedl in 1835, were first used on Austro-Hungarian tubas made in the 1850s by Červený. Around the same time in France and Britain, the modern piston valve developed by François Périnet in 1839 had begun to replace the Berlin valves used on early saxhorn instruments.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=47}}

Pistons can be ''top-action'', oriented vertically so the buttons are operated from the top of the instrument, or ''front-action'' (sometimes called ''side-action''), oriented horizontally so the buttons are at the front, operated from the side.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=49}}

thumb|upright=0.6|C tuba with five rotary valves Tubas are made with three to six valves, but among professional players, tubas with four and five are the most common. Three-valve tubas are usually inexpensive student models, or smaller marching instruments made to conserve weight; the sousaphone usually has three valves. F tubas usually have five or six valves,{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=49}} including the six-valved {{lang|de|Wienerkonzerttuba}} used in Austria.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=43–44}}

Depressing a valve adds a length of tubing to the instrument, lowering its fundamental pitch. On modern tubas, the first three valves work the same way as other valved brass instruments: the first lowers the pitch by two semitones (whole step), the second by one semitone (half step), and the third by three semitones (minor third).{{sfn|Herbert|Myers|Wallace|2019|p=430|loc="Valve"}}

==== Fourth, fifth, and sixth valves ====

The fourth valve lowers the pitch by five semitones (a perfect fourth). The combination of valves 1 and 3 also lowers the pitch by a fourth, but this combination, and the 1-2-3 combination, tend to produce pitches that are slightly sharp. Using the fourth valve helps solve these intonation problems. Using the fourth valve with any or all of the first three extends the range down to the fundamental pitch, but some of these lower notes will be sharp.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|pp=50–51}}

The fifth and sixth valves, if fitted, provide alternative fingering possibilities to improve intonation, particularly in the octave between the fundamental pitch (pedal tone) and the second partial, and for smooth trills and ease of playing. Usually, the fifth valve is tuned to two and a half semitones (flattened whole step), and the sixth to one and a half semitones (flattened half step).{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|pp=53}} On C tubas with five valves, the fifth valve may be tuned as a flattened whole step or as a minor third, depending on the instrument. B{{Flat}} instruments rarely have a fifth valve, but if they do, it is tuned similarly to that of a C tuba.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=41}}

==== Compensating valves ====

Most high-end saxhorn-style tubas in E{{Flat}} and B{{Flat}}, instead of providing a fifth or sixth valve, provide a compensating system on the fourth valve to adjust intonation when using valves in combination.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dwerden.com/eu-articles-comp.cfm|title=Compensating System|website=Dwerden.com|access-date=4 February 2018|archive-date=9 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181109070904/http://www.dwerden.com/eu-articles-comp.cfm|url-status=live}}</ref> This reduces the need to constantly adjust tuning slides while playing, and also simplifies fingering. The compensating piston valve was invented in the 1870s by David Blaikley, the factory manager at Boosey & Co., who patented it in 1878. The patent limited its application outside of Britain, and tubas with compensating valves are mainly found in Britain and British Commonwealth countries.{{sfn|O'Connor|2007|p=6}} The tubing of the fourth valve is re-routed back through the other three valves to add an extra set of small correcting tubing loops.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=51}} This achieves correct intonation in the lower range of the instrument when using the fourth valve.{{sfn|Herbert|Myers|Wallace|2019|pp=436–437|loc="Valve"}} Compensating valves can make the instrument significantly more "stuffy" or resistant to air flow when compared to a non-compensating tuba, and also make the instrument heavier.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=51–52}}

=== Mouthpiece ===

The tuba mouthpiece is similar to that of other brass instruments. It has a cup-shaped profile with a throat at the base, and a short backbore in the shank, which fits into the leadpipe receiver on the instrument.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|pp=51–52}} The tuba requires a correspondingly larger mouthpiece, with a much deeper cup that usually measures 32 to 34 millimeters (1.18 to 1.34 inches) in diameter at the rim.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|pp=53–55}}

=== Materials and finish ===

thumb|Euroband musicians with fiberglass sousaphones The tuba is generally constructed of brass, which is either electroplated with silver or coated with a thin transparent lacquer.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=34}} Unfinished brass will tarnish and must be periodically polished to maintain its appearance.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Winter |first=James |title=Brass |journal=Music Educators Journal |year=1975 |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=34–37 |doi=10.2307/3394871 |jstor=3394871 |s2cid=221063884}}</ref>

Tubas can be made of ABS plastic, or the bell and outer tubing can be made of fibreglass or carbon-fiber composite to reduce the weight of the instrument.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=289}}<ref name="wiss-sousaphone">{{Cite web |title=Carbon Fiber Sousaphone |date=21 December 2024  |publisher=Jérôme Wiss |publication-place=Hindlingen |access-date=9 January 2026 |url=https://jeromewiss.com/en/carbon-fiber-sousaphone/ |archive-date=9 January 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260109013113/https://jeromewiss.com/en/carbon-fiber-sousaphone/ |url-status=live }}</ref>. Sousaphones have been made with fiberglass bells since the 1960s. Reduced weight is helpful for instruments used for marching, and these materials allow the instrument to be produced in many colors.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=292–293}}

=== Manufacturers ===

Tubas are built by many German makers, including Gebr. Alexander, B&S, Melton Meinl Weston, Miraphone, and Rudolf Meinl. The Besson company was acquired by Buffet Crampon in 2013 and moved operations from London and France to Germany.<ref name="mfrs-de">{{Multiref2 | {{Cite web |title=Tubas |publication-place=Mainz |publisher=Gebr. Alexander |url=https://gebr-alexander.de/en/collections/tubas |access-date=2 March 2026 }} | {{Cite web |title=Tubas |publisher=B&S |publication-place=Geretsried |url=https://eu.b-and-s.com/bs_others_en/instruments/tubas.html |access-date=2 March 2026 }} | {{Cite web |title=Tubas |publisher=Besson |publication-place=Markneukirchen |url=https://www.besson.com/en/instruments/tubas/ |access-date=2 March 2026 |archive-date=11 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251211155459/https://www.besson.com/en/instruments/tubas/ |url-status=live }} | {{Cite web |title=Tubas |publisher=Melton Meinl Weston |publication-place=Geretsried |url=https://www.melton-meinl-weston.com/en/instruments/tubas/ |access-date=2 March 2026 }} | {{Cite web |title=Tuba |publisher=Miraphone |publication-place=Waldkraiburg |url=https://www.miraphone.de/instruments/tuba.html |access-date=2 March 2026 }} | {{Cite web |title=Unsere Tuben |language=de |publisher=Rudolf Meinl Metalblasinstrumente |publication-place=Diespeck |url=https://www.rudolf-meinl.de/index.php?id=4536 |access-date=2 March 2026 }} }}</ref> Other European makers include Schagerl in Austria, Willson in Switzerland, Amati Kraslice and Červený in the Czech Republic, and Adams in the Netherlands.<ref name="mfrs-eu">{{Multiref2 | {{Cite web |title=Adams Tubas |publisher=Adams Musical Instruments |publication-place=Ittervoort |url=https://www.adams-music.com/en/brass/tubas |access-date=24 February 2026 }} | {{Cite web |title=Tuby |language=cs |publisher=Amati Kraslice |publication-place=Kraslice |access-date=2 March 2026 |url=https://amati.cz/cs/produkty/zestove-nastroje/tuby |archive-date=22 January 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260122014814/https://www.amati.cz/cs/produkty/zestove-nastroje/tuby |url-status=live }} | {{Cite web |title=Tubas |publisher=V. F. Červený & Synové |publication-place=Kraslice |url=https://www.vfcerveny.cz/en/products/rotary-valve/tubas |access-date=24 February 2026 }} | {{Cite web |title=Tuba |publisher=Schagerl |publication-place=Mank |url=https://schagerl.com/en/c/brass-instruments/tuba/ |access-date=2 March 2026 |archive-date=7 February 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260207042117/https://schagerl.com/en/c/brass-instruments/tuba/ |url-status=live }} | {{Cite web |title=Tuben |language=de |publisher=Willson Band Instruments Switzerland |publication-place=Flums |url=https://willson.ch/instrument/willson-bbb-tuba-2-454-rz-4 |access-date=2 March 2026 |archive-date=9 February 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260209120137/https://www.willson.ch/instrument/willson-bbb-tuba-2-454-rz-4 |url-status=live }} }}</ref>

Several large Chinese instrument makers, concentrated in Tianjin and Beijing, produce relatively inexpensive musical instruments for export, including tubas and other band instruments.{{sfn|Herbert|Myers|Wallace|2019|p=101–103|loc="China"}} Other Asian manufacturers include Yamaha of Japan,<ref name="mfr-yamaha">{{Cite web |title=チューバ |language=ja |publisher=Yamaha Corporation |publication-place=Tokyo |url=https://jp.yamaha.com/products/musical_instruments/winds/tubas/ |access-date=2 March 2026 |archive-date=5 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251205182442/https://jp.yamaha.com/products/musical_instruments/winds/tubas/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and KHS Music in Taiwan, who manufacture several brands, including Jupiter student B{{Flat}} tubas and sousaphones, and a five-valve C tuba for XO Professional Brass.<ref name="KHS-brands">{{Cite web |title=Brands |publisher=KHS Music Group |publication-place=New Taipei City |date=2026 |url=https://www.khsmusic.com/en/brand |access-date=18 January 2026 |archive-date=10 December 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251210171923/https://www.khsmusic.com/en/brand |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the United States, tubas built in the 1930s by Conn, Holton, York, and King became the templates for instruments subsequently built and used in most American bands and orchestras.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Instruments and Equipment |journal=Music Educators Journal |year=1969 |volume=55 |issue=9 |pages=101–102 |doi=10.2307/3392572 |jstor=3392572 |s2cid=221060268}}</ref> By the 1980s, Conn-Selmer had become America's largest brass instrument maker, having acquired Vincent Bach, Holton, Leblanc, and King through a series of corporate mergers.<ref name="Garchik-2026-RIP"/> In 2024, the US imported $560 million in Chinese-made instruments, mostly beginner and student models, making up 45% of all brass-wind instrument imports that year.<ref name="PIIE-tariffs">{{Cite web |title=New tariffs on China could silence the next generation of musicians |last=Hendrix |first=Cullen S. |publisher=Peterson Institute for International Economics |publication-place=Washington D.C. |date=23 April 2025 |url=https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economics/2025/new-tariffs-china-could-silence-next-generation-musicians |access-date=1 March 2026 |archive-date=2 February 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260202163831/https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economics/2025/new-tariffs-china-could-silence-next-generation-musicians |url-status=live }} "Forty-five percent of brass wind instrument imports come from China ... slanted heavily toward the beginner/student population."</ref> Consolidation and competition from inexpensive Chinese imports has resulted in the cessation of nearly all tuba manufacturing in the United States.<ref name="Garchik-2026-RIP">{{Cite web |title=RIP American tubas |last=Garchik |first=Jacob |work=Macrotones |via=Substack |date=14 January 2026 |url=https://jacobgarchik.substack.com/p/rip-american-tubas |access-date=17 February 2026 |archive-date=14 January 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260114054746/https://jacobgarchik.substack.com/p/rip-american-tubas |url-status=live }}</ref> The California-based manufacturer Kanstul closed in 2019,{{sfn|Quinones|2025|p=309}} and Conn-Selmer plan to close its Eastlake manufacturing plant in June 2026, moving its remaining tuba and band instrument manufacturing to China.<ref name="fox8-conn">{{Cite web |title='Infuriating': Workers, union leaders speak about tentative plans to close Eastlake plant |first=Jack |last=Shea |date=7 January 2026 |publisher=Fox 8 |publication-place=Cleveland |url=https://fox8.com/news/infuriating-workers-union-leaders-speak-about-tentative-plans-to-close-eastlake-plant/ |access-date=18 February 2026 |archive-date=9 January 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260109110549/https://fox8.com/news/infuriating-workers-union-leaders-speak-about-tentative-plans-to-close-eastlake-plant/ |url-status=live }} Cited in Garchik (2026).</ref>{{update after|2026|05|31|adjust future tense, check if this was negotiated by the union}}

== Performance ==

A symphony orchestra typically includes a single tuba, although a second is sometimes called for in large works, such as Stravinsky's ballet ''The Rite of Spring'' (1913) or Havergal Brian's Symphony No. 1 (1927). The tuba serves as the bass of the orchestral brass section, and it can reinforce the bass voices of the strings and woodwinds.{{sfn|Kennan|Grantham|2023|p=155}} While French composers writing for the small C tuba wrote high lyrical passages such as Ravel's "Bydło" excerpt (see above), a single tuba can fortify the bass line of an orchestral tutti, such as the conclusion of "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity" from Holst's ''The Planets'' (1917).

{{Image frame | align = center | width = 550 | innerstyle = background:white;padding:0.4em | caption = Tuba excerpt from "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity" in Gustav Holst's suite ''The Planets'' (1917). Excerpt at 7m 55s. <br> {{Listen | filename = Gustav Holst - the planets, op. 32 - iv. jupiter, the bringer of jollity.ogg | title = Recording, by Skidmore College Orchestra | embed = yes | type = music | alt = Skidmore College Orchestra recording of "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity" from Gustav Holst's The Planets | start = 7:55 | pos = center | plain = yes }} | content = <score lang="lilypond"> \layout { ragged-right = ##t \context { \Score \omit BarNumber } } \relative c { \time 3/4 \tempo "Lento maestoso" \clef bass \key b \major \ff dis,,8 ^ "legato" fis gis b ais8. fis16 | b8 cis b4 ais | gis8 ais gis4 fis | dis2.~ | dis2. } </score> }}

Concert bands and military bands usually employ two to four tubas as their principal bass instrument. British-style brass band music has two tuba parts, one each for E{{Flat}} and B{{Flat}} tuba. There are usually two players on each part, and parts can sometimes use ''divisi''.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|pp=430–431}}<ref name="Odello-2014">{{Cite journal |last=Odello |first=Denise |title=British Brass Band Periodicals and the Construction of a Movement |journal=Victorian Periodicals Review |date=2014 |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=432–453 |doi=10.1353/vpr.2014.0029 |jstor=43663256 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43663256 |access-date=8 December 2025}}</ref> Sousaphones and tubas are used in jazz bands, marching bands, and Mexican banda music.{{sfn|Bevan|1996|p=8}}<ref name="GMO-banda">{{Cite Grove|first=Helena |last=Simonett |title=Banda; Banda Sinaloense |id=A20928}}</ref> The contrabass bugle version of a tuba is used in drum and bugle corps.{{sfn|Pirtle|2002|p=76}}

In chamber music, the tuba provides the bass of the brass quintet, a genre first popularized in the 1950s by the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble and the New York Brass Quintet.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|pp=435–436}}

=== Notation ===

In orchestras and symphonic bands, the tuba is written at concert pitch in the bass clef as a non-transposing instrument. Tuba players reading music in bass clef must therefore learn the different valve fingerings for each size of tuba. Unlike other bass clef instruments like the trombone, cello, or bassoon, high passages for tuba are not written in tenor clef, and players are used to reading up to five leger lines above and below the bass staff.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|pp=67–68}}

In British brass bands, all instruments except the bass trombone are transposing instruments using the treble clef notation popularized in France by the instrument maker Adolphe Sax for his families of instruments.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=27}} Thus the tuba parts are notated in treble clef, sounding an octave and a sixth below written for E{{Flat}} tuba, like the baritone saxophone, or two octaves and a second for B{{Flat}} tuba, like the contrabass clarinet.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|pp=69–70}} This allows band musicians to change instruments without having to learn new fingerings for the same written music.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=27}}

{{Image frame |align = center |innerstyle = background:white;padding:0.5em; | caption = Brass band transposing treble clef notation, and the resulting concert pitch for tubas in B{{flat}} and E{{flat}} | content = <score lang="lilypond"> \relative { \cadenzaOn \clef treble \key c \major c'8[ ^ \markup \tiny "written, transposing" d e f] g4 c s4 \bar "|" \clef bass \key bes \major \time 4/4 bes,,,!8[ ^ \markup \tiny "sounds (B♭ tuba)" c d ees!] f4 bes! \bar "|" \clef bass \key ees \major \time 4/4 ees,!8[ ^ \markup \tiny "(E♭ tuba)" f g aes!] bes4 ees! }</score> }}

Concert band music sometimes provides tuba parts in E{{Flat}} and B{{Flat}} treble clef as well, to accommodate players from either background, although professional players are usually familiar with either notation.{{Sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=68}}

=== Range ===

The written range of the tuba is large, partly because different-sized instruments have been used at different times and in different regions. The C or B{{Flat}} contrabass tubas called for by Wagner and later German composers could scarcely reach middle C, while the range of the euphonium-like French C tuba built an octave higher reaches the C{{sub|5}} above middle C. On any tuba, the range from F{{sub|1}} to C{{sub|4}} (middle C) is easily accessible, but the full working range from contemporary solo repertoire includes the pedal range to at least B{{Flat}}{{sub|0}}, and extends up to at least C{{sub|5}}.{{sfn|Herbert|Myers|Wallace|2019|p=484|loc=Appendix 2: The Ranges of Labrosones}}{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=182}}

{{Image frame | align = center | width = 440 | innerstyle = background:white;padding:0.5em; | content = <score lang="lilypond"> { \new Staff \with { \omit Score.TimeSignature } \clef bass \key c \major \cadenzaOn \omit Stem \once \hide r8

s4 ^ "B♭ tuba" \arpeggioBracket <bes,,, bes>1 \arpeggio \once \hide r4

s4 ^ "C tuba" \arpeggioBracket <c,, c'>1 \arpeggio \once \hide r4

s4 ^ "E♭ tuba" \arpeggioBracket <ees,, ees'>1 \arpeggio \once \hide r4

s4 ^ "F tuba" \arpeggioBracket <f,, f'>1 \arpeggio s4 \grace a'4 ^ \markup \tiny "↑" }</score> | caption = The comfortable three-octave tessitura of tubas;{{sfn|Herbert|Myers|Wallace|2019|p=484|loc=Appendix 2: The Ranges of Labrosones}} higher notes are possible on the B{{flat}} and C tubas, and pedal tones on the E{{flat}} and F can extend their lower range }}

Higher notes are possible, since the upper range is limited only by the fitness of the player's embouchure, although notes above the ''bell cutoff frequency'' around the tenth harmonic are difficult to center; continuous ''glissandi'' are possible, making valve fingering largely redundant.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|pp=60-63}} The wide bore profile of the tuba means that pedal tones are easily produced, compared to other brass instruments.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|p=32, 58}}

=== Resonance and false tones ===

Some tubas have a strong, useful resonance that deviates from the instrument's principal harmonic series. For example, most large B{{Flat}} tubas have a strong resonance around the low E{{Flat}}{{sub|1}} between the B{{Flat}}{{sub|0}} pedal and its second partial an octave above. These alternative resonances are often known as ''false'', ''factitious'' or ''privileged'' tones, and allow the instrument to play chromatically from E{{sub|1}} down to the B{{Flat}} pedal of the open horn using only three valves.{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=58}}

=== Microtonality ===

Contemporary repertoire can include the use of quarter tones and other microtonality. On the tuba, a microtonal valve system was first developed in 2009 by Robin Hayward and the German manufacturer B&S.{{sfn|Adler-McKean|2020|pp=92–95}} The "Hayward" system supplies interchangeable fifth (quarter tone) and sixth (eighth tone) valves, and extensions for the third and fourth valve slides, that can be used on a six-valve F or C tuba. This system is available as an option on some tuba models from B&S and Rudolf Meinl.<ref name="hayward-galpin">{{Cite journal |title=The Microtonal Tuba |first=Robin |last=Hayward |journal=The Galpin Society Journal |date=2011 |volume=64 |pages=125–177 |issue=March 2011 |jstor=23209394}}</ref><ref name="hayward-web">{{Cite web |title=Microtonal Tuba |first=Robin |last=Hayward |url=https://robinhayward.com/en/microtonal-tuba/ |access-date=18 February 2026 |archive-date=15 November 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251115085401/https://robinhayward.com/en/microtonal-tuba/ |url-status=live }}</ref> <!--

== Players == {{See also|List of tubists}} -->

== Repertoire == {{See also|Tuba repertoire}}

The first works for solo tuba were light popular works written for brass and concert bands in the late 19th century. Often in the form of polka and trio, they follow the same structure as contemporaneous pieces for solo cornet and other instruments.{{sfn|Northcut|2006|p=151–152}} Arrangements for tuba of Jean-Baptiste Arban's ''Variations on the Carnival of Venice'' (1864), a popular example of this type of piece, are still commonly performed and recorded.{{sfn|Davis|2006|p=548}}

In 1945, the American composer George Kleinsinger wrote the children's play ''Tubby the Tuba'' for solo tuba and orchestra, with narration by lyricist Paul Tripp. Its popularity with audiences spawned several commercial recordings, a 1975 animated feature film,{{sfn|Lenburg|2009|p=237}} and arrangements for wind band and brass band accompaniment.{{sfn|Northcut|Gray|2006|p=179}}

The first "serious" compositions for solo tuba include two works by American composers. ''Waltz for Mippy III'' (1950) by Leonard Bernstein{{sfn|Skillen|Goldstein|2006|p=13}} and ''Sonate für Baßtuba und Klavier'' (1955) by Paul Hindemith{{sfn|Bevan|2000|p=437}} were both written for solo tuba with piano accompaniment.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sonate für Baßtuba und Klavier |last=Hindemith |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Hindemith |via=International Music Score Library Project |date=1957 |url= https://imslp.org/wiki/Tuba_Sonata_(Hindemith%2C_Paul) |publisher=Schott & Co. |publication-place=London |access-date=12 January 2025 |archive-date=22 August 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250822100203/https://imslp.org/wiki/Tuba_Sonata_(Hindemith%2C_Paul) |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="waltz-mippy-iii">{{Cite web |title=Waltz for Mippy III |first=Leonard |last=Bernstein |publisher=Hal Leonard |author-link=Leonard Bernstein |isbn=979-8-35011-875-9 |url=https://www.halleonard.com/product/48010874/waltz-for-mippy-iii |access-date=20 April 2026 |archive-date=11 July 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250711184427/https://www.halleonard.com/product/48010874/waltz-for-mippy-iii |url-status=live }}</ref> Since the 1960s, a considerable body of solo repertoire has amassed for tuba.{{sfn|Skillen|Goldstein|2006|pp=1-2}} This includes unaccompanied pieces, and in particular works with piano, ensemble, or band accompaniment.{{sfn|Northcut|Gray|2006|pp=173-4}}{{sfn|Sinder|Funderburk|2006|pp=217-8}}

The first tuba concerto was the ''Concerto in F minor for Bass Tuba and Orchestra'', written in 1954 by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. It remains a popular and often-performed concerto, and many commercial recordings have been made.{{sfn|Davis|2006|p=606}} Increased awareness of the technical and sonic possibilities of solo tuba led to a growth in available concert repertoire. Tuba concertos soon followed from other composers, such as Gunther Schuller (1960), William Lovelock (1967), Edward Gregson (1978), Roger Steptoe (1983), John Williams (1985), Alexander Arutiunian (1992), and Eric Ewazen (1995).{{sfn|Northcut|Gray|2006|pp=173–187}} Schuller wrote his second tuba concerto, dedicated to Harvey Phillips, in 2008.<ref name=Schuller>{{cite news |title=Tireless Schuller leads premiere of new tuba concerto |date=17 February 2011 |last=Eichler |first=Jeremy |work=The Boston Globe |url=https://archive.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2011/02/17/tireless_gunther_schuller_leads_premiere_of_new_tuba_concerto/ |access-date=20 April 2026 |archive-date=29 May 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260529063537/https://archive.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2011/02/17/tireless_gunther_schuller_leads_premiere_of_new_tuba_concerto/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Since 2000, concertos have been written by Kalevi Aho (2001), Jan Bach (2003),{{sfn|Northcut|Gray|2006|pp=173–187}} Philip Sparke (2006),{{sfn|Sisk|2017|pp=3–20}} David Carlson (2014),<ref name="Carlson-Potenza">{{Cite web |title=Tuba Concerto for Tuba, String Orchesta and Harp |first=David |last=Carlson |author-link=David Carlson |publisher=Potenza Music |publication-place=New London |date=2014 |id=PZAW0021 |url= https://potenzamusic.com/product/tuba-concerto-strings/ |access-date=20 April 2026}}</ref> Jennifer Higdon (2017),<ref name="Higdon-review">{{cite web |last=Reynolds |first=Jeremy |title=Concert review: PSO tubist delivers virtuosic new concerto |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=17 March 2018 |url= https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/music/2018/03/17/concert-review-Pittsburgh-Symphony-Orchestra-Craig-Knox-Jennifer-Higdon-tuba-concerto-premiere-symphonie-fantastique-Reynolds/stories/201803160162 |url-access=subscription |access-date=9 April 2018}}</ref> and the Norwegian composer Marcus Paus (''Tuba Mirum'', 2021).<ref name="Paus-snl">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Marcus Paus |encyclopedia=Store norske leksikon |url=https://snl.no/Marcus_Paus |access-date=19 December 2021 |archive-date=1 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201182317/https://snl.no/Marcus_Paus |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Notes==

==References==

==Bibliography==

{{refbegin}} {{ubli | {{Cite Q|last=Adler-McKean |date=2020 |first=Jack |Q134349391}} | {{Cite Q|last=Bevan |date=1996 |first=Clifford |author-link=Clifford Bevan | editor1-last=Morris |editor1-first=R. Winston |editor1-link=R. Winston Morris | editor2-last=Goldstein |editor2-first=Edward R. | chapter=A Brief History of the Tuba |pages=1–9 |Q135911601}} | {{Cite Q|last=Bevan |date=1997 |first=Clifford |author-link=Clifford Bevan | chapter=Special NEH report: Cimbasso Research and Performance Practice: An Update | page=289–299 |Q127092138}} | {{Cite Q|last=Bevan |date=2000 |first=Clifford |author-link=Clifford Bevan |Q111040769}} | {{Cite Q|editor1-last=Bogdanov |editor2-last=Woodstra |editor3-last=Erlewine |date=2002 | editor1-first=Vladimir |editor2-first=Chris |editor3-first=Stephen Thomas | editor1-link= Vladimir Bogdanov (editor) |editor3-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|Q132321183}} | {{Cite Q|last=Bowman |date=2007 |first=Brian |author-link=Brian Bowman |pages=251–255 | chapter=Band and Orchestral Excerpts |editor1-last=Bone | editor1-first=Lloyd E. |editor2-last=Paull |editor2-first=Eric |editor3-last=Morris | editor3-first=R. Winston |editor3-link=R. Winston Morris |Q135963380}} | {{Cite Q|last=Call |date=1996 |first=R. Steven | editor1-last=Morris |editor1-first=R. Winston |editor1-link=R. Winston Morris | editor2-last=Goldstein |editor2-first=Edward R. | chapter=The Tuba in Jazz: A Historical View |pages=529–532 |Q135911601}} | {{cite Q|editor1-last=Cook |editor2-last=Morton |date=2004 | editor1-first=Richard |editor1-link=Richard Cook (journalist) |editor2-first=Brian | editor2-link=Brian Morton (Scottish writer) |Q126705461}} | {{Cite Q|last=Davis |date=2006 |first=Ronald |chapter=Discography | editor1-last=Morris |editor1-first=R. Winston |editor1-link=R. Winston Morris | editor2-last=Perantoni |editor2-first=Daniel |pages=477–614 |Q135911410}} | {{Cite Q|last=Forsyth |date=1914 |first=Cecil |Q121879329}} | {{Cite Q|last=Graves |date=2006 |first=David D. |chapter=Methods and Studies | editor1-last=Morris |editor1-first=R. Winston |editor1-link=R. Winston Morris | editor2-last=Perantoni |editor2-first=Daniel |pages=435–462 |Q135911410}} | {{Cite Q|editor1-last=Herbert |editor2-last=Myers |editor3-last=Wallace |date=2019 | editor1-first=Trevor |editor2-first=Arnold |editor3-first=John | publication-place=unset |Q136027509}} | {{Cite Q|last1=Kennan |last2=Grantham |date=2023 |first1=Kent |first2=Donald |author1-link=Kent Kennan |author2-link=Donald Grantham |Q137766238}} | {{Cite Q|last=Lenburg |date=2009 |first=Jeff |Q139487659}} | {{Cite Q|last=Meucci |date=1996 |first=Renato |Q111077162}} | {{Cite Q|last=Myers |date=2000 |first=Arnold |editor-first=Trevor | editor-last=Herbert |publication-place=unset | chapter=Instruments and Instrumentation |pages=155–186 |Q116480763}} | {{Cite Q|last1=Northcut |date=2006 |first1=Timothy J. | editor1-last=Morris |editor1-first=R. Winston |editor1-link=R. Winston Morris | editor2-last=Perantoni |editor2-first=Daniel | chapter=Music for Tuba and Band |pages=151–172 |Q135911410}} | {{Cite Q|last1=Northcut |last2=Gray |date=2006 |first1=Timothy J. |first2=Skip | editor1-last=Morris |editor1-first=R. Winston |editor1-link=R. Winston Morris | editor2-last=Perantoni |editor2-first=Daniel | chapter=Music for Tuba and Orchestra |pages=173–187 |Q135911410}} | {{Cite Q|last=O'Connor |date=2007 |first=Michael |pages=1–17 | chapter=A Short History of the Euphonium and Baritone Horn |editor1-last=Bone | editor1-first=Lloyd E. |editor2-last=Paull |editor2-first=Eric |editor3-last=Morris | editor3-first=R. Winston |editor3-link=R. Winston Morris |Q135963380}} | {{Cite Q|last=Pirtle |date=2002 |chapter=The evolution of the bugle | first=Scooter |editor-last=Vickers |editor-first=Steve |Q136465477}} | {{Cite Q|last=Quinones |date=2025 | first=Sam |Q136771010}} | {{Cite Q|last1=Sinder |last2=Funderburk |date=2006 |first1=Philip |first2=Jeffrey L. | editor1-last=Morris |editor1-first=R. Winston |editor1-link=R. Winston Morris | editor2-last=Perantoni |editor2-first=Daniel | chapter=Music for Unaccompanied Tuba |pages=217–247 |Q135911410}} | {{Cite Q|last=Sisk |date=2017 |first=Robin A. |type=DMA thesis |Q137209576}} | {{Cite Q|last1=Skillen |last2=Goldstein |date=2006 |first1=Joseph |first2=Edward R. | editor1-last=Morris |editor1-first=R. Winston |editor1-link=R. Winston Morris | editor2-last=Perantoni |editor2-first=Daniel | chapter=Music for Tuba and Keyboard |pages=1–149 |Q135911410}} | {{Cite Q|last=Yeo |date=2021 |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Yeo |Q111040546}} }} {{refend}}

==External links==

* [https://www.iteaonline.org ITEA] — The International Tuba Euphonium Association * {{Commons-inline|Tuba (instrument)|the tuba}} * {{wiktionary-inline}} * [http://forums.chisham.com/ TubeNet], [https://www.tubaforum.net/ TubaForum.net] — online forums * [https://simonettitubacollection.com/ The Vincent and Ethel Simonetti Historic Tuba Collection] — Durham, North Carolina * [https://historyofthetuba.substack.com/ History of the Tuba Podcast] — Jake Kline & Jack Adler-McKean * [https://www.tubaday.com International Tuba Day] — first Friday in May * [https://www.tubachristmas.com/ Tuba Christmas] — official site for the annual Tubachristmas concerts * {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Bombardon}}

Category:Tubas Category:Bass (sound) Category:Contrabass instruments Category:German musical instruments Category:Marching band instruments Category:Orchestral instruments Category:Concert band instruments