tuba

/ˈtubə/

/ˈtubə/

Other forms: tubas; tubae

A tuba is a large brass instrument that you play by blowing into its mouthpiece. In a marching band, the tuba player plays the lowest, deepest notes (and also has to lug around her tuba).

The tuba is the biggest, and among the newest, of all the brass instruments. Tuba players create the low-pitched sound by making a kind of "buzz" with their breath against the mouthpiece and pressing the tuba's valves to form notes. In an orchestra, a tuba player holds the instrument on her lap, while a tuba player in a marching band would use a sousaphone tuba, or helicon, a lighter tuba that can be worn across a shoulder.

Definitions of tuba

1. noun

   the lowest brass wind instrument
   synonyms: bass horn, sousaphone

   types:

   euphonium

   a bass horn (brass wind instrument) that is the tenor of the tuba family

   bombardon, helicon

   a tuba that coils over the shoulder of the musician

   type of:

   bass

   the member with the lowest range of a family of musical instruments

   brass, brass instrument

   a wind instrument that consists of a brass tube (usually of variable length) that is blown by means of a cup-shaped or funnel-shaped mouthpiece