Tubas

There are several different tubas (or saxhorns), including:
- the tenor tuba or euphonium
- the bass tuba
- the BBb or contrabass tuba.
Most modern instruments have a conical bore, but there are variations in both construction and name from country to country. In the USA a 'baritone' refers to a euphonium, whereas in the UK it means a tenor horn. The 'Wagner tuba' is called 'Tenor-Tuba' in Germany, and so on. The three most common instruments in orchestras are the bass, the contrabass, and the euphonium, which are featured in these pages. The tubas are of course the bass instrument of the brass section, but they are more than capable of playing melodies in the tenor register.
In these pages, the tubas are demonstrated by:

John Jenkins, Tubas

Use the navigation bar above to explore the tuba pages.

The icon will launch a movie of John explaining a relevant point of tuba technique.

The icon will give an audio clip, which will either play automatically or open a new window.

The icon will play an illustrative music example from the Philharmonia's recorded archive.

Be sure to visit the 'player's tips and tricks' section for some very useful advice about aspects of tuba writing.

Sadly, John Jenkins passed away in 2008. Recording the orchestra manual with him was a real pleasure. He had a love of the instrument and a disarming sense of humour. I would like these pages to stand as a memorial to his professionalism and extraordinary musicianship. (Andrew Hugill)