The History of the Tuba
Grade 9-12
General Music
David Van Horn
Why was it needed?
• The growing size of bands and
orchestra needed a bottom end.
– This allowed a bigger range of sounds
within the ensembles.
What was the first?
• The first instrument that started this family
was the Serpent.
– Invented in France by Edme Guillaume around
1590.
– Made with wood and leather.
The Serpent
• It coiled back and forth like a snake.
• It had six holes to change the pitch.
– Later, keys where added to make playing
the Serpent easier.
The Serpent’s use.
• Was used first in churches as a bass
instrument.
– The first known composers were
Leoninus and Perotinus, or Leonin and
Perotin, in the 12th century.
– They are the first two recognised
composers of Western Music,
which is critically important.
Music for the Serpent.
• Pieces were composed with the
Serpent in mind.
– Composers like Beethoven, Mendelssohn,
Berlioz, Meyerbeer and Wagner were no
stranger to the Serpent.
• In fact, Wagner loved a lush
tone-palate, and wrote music just
for the Serpent.
The Ophicleide.
• In 1821, Joseph
Halliday created the
Ophicleide.
– The name being
constructed from
the two words
“ophis” (Greek for
“serpent”) and
“kleis” (for “stopper”
or “cover”).
Why does it look like a
Saxophone?
• The fact is, the Ophicleide is the
predecessor to the Saxophone.
– The saxophone was but one of several
attempts to fuse Ophicleide and
woodwind design.
– Earliest Saxophones where called
ophicléides á clefs, or the
ophicléides á clefs et á bec.
More about the Ophicleide.
• The ophicleide bears no resemblance
to its predecessor.
– What sets it apart is it’s made of brass,
having keys and pads like a saxophone,
and standing upright.
– However, it’s internal design makes
it a brasswind of conical bore.
– It was last used far and wide in
1928, although replicas are now
made.
The Helicon.
• Thought to be made in
Russia around 1845, it
was made as a
marching horn.
– It was the forerunner for
the Sousaphone, which
is the marching horn of
choice today.
– The Helicon was popular
across Europe and the
United States.
The Sousaphone.
• As said earlier, the
Sousaphone is the
descendent of the
Helicon.
• Many believed that C.
G. Conn made the
Sousaphone in 1898.
However, J. W. Peter
made it in 1893, where
it was displayed at the
industrial exhibit in
Philadelphia that same
year.
The Tuba.
• Patented in 1835 by
Prussian
bandmaster
Wilhelm Wieprecht
and German
instrument-builder
Johann Gottfried
Moritz.
– It was soon adopted
into British brass
bands
Information about the Tuba.
• It comes in different keys:
–
–
–
–
–
BB flat
CC
E flat
F
GG
• Despite the different keys, the Tuba
is a “non-transposing” instrument.
– This means it reads everything and
plays everything in concert pitch.
More information about the
Tuba.
• The compensating
valve design allows the
playing of true, pure
pedals that are in tune.
• The bell diameter can
vary from 15-30 inches
based upon the Tuba’s
key.
• The bell tubing can we
wide and open like a
funnel, or relatively
small, ending in a large
bell.
• They can be built of
brass that is often
electroplated with
silver, nickel or copper,
or they can sometimes
have bells of plastic or
fiberglass.
Some random information
about the Tuba.
• It’s one of the heaviest instrument
held by hand in an ensemble.
• It is one of the most expensive
instruments, along with percussion
instruments and high quality
instruments.
References
• The History of the Tuba
– http://home.earthlink.net/~tenorhorn/t
ubahistory.html