About the Tuba
The tuba is the lowest instrument of the brass family, and has an incredible playing range of 4 octaves. Depending on the type of tuba, it can usually play as low as the lowest keys on a piano, and a bit past the middle of the pianos range. The tuba is also rather large and heavy, requiring more strength to carry it than most other instruments.
Types of Tubas
There are several types of tubas; therefore the exact fingerings [keys that you press] vary from each tuba, so it's important to find what type of tuba you are playing. The most popular tubas are the Bb tuba, Eb Tuba, CC tuba, and F Tuba. The type of Tuba just means the note that you will play without pressing any keys. So if you are playing a CC tuba, and are not pressing any keys, you will be hitting a C note. If you are playing the Bb tuba, and are not pressing any keys, you will be hitting a B-flat note.
Not only is the base note different among the different types of tuba's, but the fingering combinations are also different; some tuba's even have a different amount of keys. The Bb tuba generally has 3 keys, whereas the CC tuba generally has 4.
There are a few ways to determine what type of tuba you have. If you are a student, ask your teacher, and he/she will be able to help you out with that. If you have a piano or keyboard, you can also use that to help you find out the "base note" of the tuba. To find the base note, play the tuba without pressing any keys and try matching that note on your piano/keyboard. If that note was a C, you have a C tuba; if it was an E-flat, you have an Eb tuba, etc.
Maintaining Your Tuba
Maintaining your tuba is pretty straight forward, so let's start with the mouthpiece. The mouthpiece is very simple, and easy to take care of. It is a solid metal piece that looks like a rounded funnel, and all you need to do is attach it to the tuba when you are ready to play. To maintain your mouthpiece, I suggest that you rinse it in hot water before every use. This helps to prevent germs, and it also warms up your mouthpiece for you, which can help you produce a better sound and help prevent condensation in your mouthpiece (which can cause an annoying wet noise).
If you've ever wondered why tubas are made of brass, it is because brass is the best metal to hold up to water & rust (out of the affordable metals, at least). This means that the tuba is intended to resist water. If you are wondering why, it is because brass instruments require you to make a buzzing noise (which I will get to later) and sometimes your spit will get into the tuba, which is why they need to resist water. However, the tuba can only take a certain amount of spit before it starts to sound wet, so it is important to drain the spit from the tuba through the "spit valve".
The spit valve is a small 2 inch lever with a cork attached to one end. To drain it, pull the lever and the spit will pour out. But be sure to not drain it on your clothes, drain it over a towel or something disposable/washable.
Your tuba is either operated with regular valves or rotary valves. Regular valves move up & down, changing the air flow accordingly. Rotary valves rotate in circles, changing the air flow accordingly. To ensure that these valves do not jam up of you, it is important to lubricate them. There are two types of lubricants for valves: regular valve oil, which is intended for regular valves, and rotary valve oil, which is intended for the more complex rotary valves. It is important that you use the correct oil, and that you keep your valves lubricated, to prevent any severe damages to the valves.
Playing the Tuba
Playing the tuba can be tricky if you've never played a brass instrument, it is, however, the easiest, of the brass instruments, to get a sound out of. To get the sound out of the tuba, you need to apply your lips to the mouthpiece and make a buzzing noise, which is basically a vibration of the lips. To do this, you must make sure that your lips are resting on each other (and try to apply some pressure on them) and then try pushing air out. If done successfully, your lips should flap and make an odd buzzing noise. For a lower note, lets your lips flap loosely - for a high note, make sure your lips are tighter. If done successfully, you will hear a sound come out from the tuba.
Once you've gotten a sound, the rest is easy. You now need to find a fingering chart, these are pretty easy to find by searching "tuba fingering chart" on a search engine. Make sure to include the type of tuba you have (CC, Bb, Eb, F, etc.) that way you get the correct fingering chart for your tuba. A fingering chart is a chart that shows all the notes that the tuba can hit, and it will show the key number(s) below, which you need to press. There are many not that many combinations of keys to press, so most of the work will be done by tightening your lips, to hit higher notes. The 1st key is the farthest left key (assuming you are holding the instrument).
Additional Information
Everything a beginner needs to know about playing a tuba is listed above. If you ever want to further your study in tuba, it is best to ask someone experienced for help. But with all the information above, you should have no problem playing tuba.
