Interview
Our interview partners from around the Englishspeaking world tell us about themselves. Today, we talk to tuba player Nigel Marsh from Oxfordshire.
Where do you play your tuba?
In a brass band called Abbey Brass. I joined the band’s learner group and started learning the tuba because my daughter wanted me to go with her. Ten years later, she’s left the band, but I’m still here.
Is the tuba a difficult instrument to play?
It’s large, heavy and difficult to hold, especially if you have to carry it while marching and playing at the same time. American marching bands have a special version of the tuba called a sousaphone, which you wear like a ring around yourself.
What sort of music do you play?
We play all sorts of music — classical, pop, traditional brass-band music. We do concerts all year round, but Christmas is the busiest time for a brass band.
What do you do at Christmas?
Everyone likes the sound of a brass band playing traditional Christmas carols. We give a lot of Christmas concerts, and we play carols in town and outside supermarkets to make money. We play them so often, I can hear them in my sleep.