Learning Bass Clef

[ThatHomeschoolDad]

I may be nuts.

 

No, I am definitely nuts, but that's another thread.

 

I played trumpet from middle school through college, but haven't played much at all over the last 27 years.  DW just got a new "baby" tuba, a very nice Holton Collegiate,  for her ms program, and somehow it has lodged in my noodle that, yeah, I could play that, at least for her two yearly concerts.

 

Embouchure seems fine, although I do feel like my whole face vibrates.  No problems with breath support (thanks, drum corps!).  It's a rather compact bit of brass, at least compared to those really giant horns.

 

I just have to learn.....bass clef.....at 48.

 

I may just get the old Standard of Excellence Book One and have at it, but being, shall we say, life experienced, of course I'm looking for a short cut.  I'm wary of continually trying to transpose treble in my head, like writing teeny English words above my German texts in college -- not efficient in hindsight, although it worked at the time, in a bang your head against cement sorta way.

 

Has anyone done it?  

[ThatHomeschoolDad]

At least it's brass, so the mechanics are there.   I tried cello in my late 20's and bailed.  That whole thing about not using air to control the sound was too much for my circuits to process.

[Guest submarines]

I have to do the same thing. I played piano for about a year as a child, and the treble clef was cemented into my brain, but not the bass clef, even though I do know I played both hands.

 

I'd make flashcards, suck it up, and just  do it. There are cool games for not identification on line as well.

 

Good luck!

[Guest submarines]

This one is neat: http://www.vicfirth.com/education/keyboard/speednotereading.html

 

If you have an iPad, I'm sure there are fun apps that would speed up the process.

[Mrs. Darinski]

I am a pianist and teach piano, so perhaps I could offer these words?  Did you ever learn the funny sayings for lines and spaces in the treble clef?  There are similar acronyms for the bass clef.  In the same way as the treble clef, you count the 5 lines and 4 spaces from the bottom to the top.  So if you look at the spaces first, bottom to top, the acronym would be, "All Cows Eat Grass", or A, C, E, G.  For the lines, bottom to top, "Great Big Dogs Fight Animals" or even, "Good Boys Deserve Fudge Always", or G, B, D, F, A.  That will give you a basis for reading the notes in the Bass Clef.  There are also some great workbooks that will help with note recognition too.  I can give you the name of a particular one I like, if you think it would help.  I just have to look it up. 

 

Good for you for rising to such a great challenge!

[Caclcoca]

I started playing cello this August.  I played a treble clef instrument (bass clarinet) in high school, so I had a hard time switching to bass clef.  I just had to look it up until the notes started sticking.  It is still not nearly as automatic as treble clef, but I'm getting there.  Good luck with your new instrument. 

[Legomom]

The middle line on the bass clef is "d" for "dead center ( I have been learning piano at a comparable age).

[ThatHomeschoolDad]

I am a pianist and teach piano, so perhaps I could offer these words?  Did you ever learn the funny sayings for lines and spaces in the treble clef?  There are similar acronyms for the bass clef.  In the same way as the treble clef, you count the 5 lines and 4 spaces from the bottom to the top.  So if you look at the spaces first, bottom to top, the acronym would be, "All Cows Eat Grass", or A, C, E, G.  For the lines, bottom to top, "Great Big Dogs Fight Animals" or even, "Good Boys Deserve Fudge Always", or G, B, D, F, A.  That will give you a basis for reading the notes in the Bass Clef.  There are also some great workbooks that will help with note recognition too.  I can give you the name of a particular one I like, if you think it would help.  I just have to look it up. 

 

Good for you for rising to such a great challenge!

 

Yeah, I know them as Every Good Boy Does Fine vs. Good Boys Do Fine Always (which always sounded clunky to my English major ears, but whatever).  I also get the whole step down from treble for lines and spaces.  I suspect it's now just marrying the note recognition with fingering and ear, like what I know as "middle C" is actually way high on tuba.  DW informs me that my level one SoE book is on order!

 

This giant mouthpiece still makes my eyeballs vibrate, tho.

 

Thanks.

[wintermom]

I'll just offer encouragement and cheers from the side-lines. You can do it!! It will be good for your brain and fun to make some music again with a group of people.

 

I tried learning the violin along with my ds and dd 4 years ago. They are both so far ahead of me that I feel pretty bad, but I can play a few songs. The note reading will really be about what fingerings/valves to play more than just the note name. As you learn the fingering, you will probably pick up the note name at the same time.