While most people don’t think of the tuba as a solo instrument, there is a number of great and famous tuba solos out there.
Sure, the tuba is mostly used for band music and orchestral music, but it doesn’t have to be.
When picking this list, I decided to settle on only 10 to get you started in your tuba solo listening journey.
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Table of Contents
Six Studies In English Folk Song: Ralph Vaughan Williams
I played this one on my own solo recital during undergrad.
While Vaughan Williams didn’t actually write this for tuba, it makes a beautiful transition onto our low brass instrument.
Each folk song is unique in how it shows off and is catchy in its own right.
They can be played all as a set or just a few chosen by the performer.
Better yet, none of them are overly technically hard, but some are even easier than others.
Intermediate tuba players can pick up a few of them to perform, while professional tuba players will throw this on a recital as an easier one to fill the time between much harder pieces.
Fnugg Blue: Oystein Baadsvik
Oystein Baadsvik is one of the only tuba solo artists out there in the world.
This isn’t to say there aren’t many tuba soloists, but they all also do other things like play with orchestras or teach at the college level.
Fnugg Blue is iconic in the tuba world, and I think every single tuba player attempts to play it at some point.
The kicker with this piece is its intense use of multiphonics (playing and singing at the same time).
It’s really not that hard to play, but it’s hard to pull off well.
Of course, no one does it better than the man who wrote it himself.
Sonate For Bass Tuba And Piano: Paul Hindemith
Paul Hindemith was a composer who wrote one of the first intentional tuba solos.
Truth be told, I don’t know if it was for a love of the instrument, specifically.
He wrote a Sonata for every single one he knew about.
This tuba one is fairly challenging, and it’s also a rite of passage for all tuba players to at least read through at some point.
The video above features sheet music, and it’s performed by Roger Bobo, the father of the modern tuba performer.
Triumph Of The Demon Gods: John Stevens
Despite what a lot of people think, the tuba is one of the newer instruments in history.
It didn’t really rise in popularity until the 1900s.
As such, there are many unaccompanied and modern tuba solos out there.
One of the first ones a lot of people play is Triumph of the Demon Gods by John Stevens.
You don’t need any piano for this (thus the unaccompanied tuba solo), but it’s fun to play in such an aggressive way.
As far as modern solos go, this one is pretty accessible skill-wise, but as this Benjamin Pierce recording shows, it sounds quite complex and entertaining.
It really channels the raw power many people associate with the Wagner tuba.
Variations In Olden Style: Thomas Stevens
Since the tuba wasn’t even invented until the early 1800s and solo literature didn’t come along until almost 100 years later, there aren’t a lot of solos written in the style of earlier musical periods.
But there are some composers who realize this and will arrange solos from earlier periods for the tuba (as we see a couple of times on this list) or write pieces in the style of older music.
The latter is where Variations in Olden Style by Thomas Stevens comes in.
It’s a great piece that most people will be able to understand and appreciate better.
Plus, unlike many arrangements, this one was specifically done for the tuba, so it fits well on the horn.
Czardas: V. Monti
Vittorio Monti lived from 1868 to 1922, and he really only wrote one piece that got any traction, and that is this Czardas.
He’s kind of a one-hit-wonder.
This piece, not originally intended for the tuba, rose in popularity on the bass tuba when Oystein Baadsvik did a very famous version of it (linked in the video above).
Its flurry of notes and technical ability blow the minds of those who don’t play the tuba (and even those of us who do).
It’s a tough piece for sure, but it also shows what a tuba solo can be at the highest levels.
Anyone who thinks the tuba is just one of the auxiliary instruments needs to listen to this piece.
This piece is often played on F tuba.
Check out our list of the best F tubas at the link.
Honor And Arms: George Frederick Handel Arr. William Bell
Sandwiched in between two of the most challenging tuba solos is one of the first real tuba solos you’ll play at the high school or good middle school level.
Honor and Arms weren’t made for the tuba (it’s off by a few decades), but this arrangement by William Bell is just challenging enough to show a budding tuba soloists what they have to do to get better.
It was a standard audition piece for many honor bands in my area on the tuba.
Fun fact: In my sophomore year in high school, the senior made an arrangement of this piece as a tuba trio, which we played for Solo and Ensemble competition as a brass ensemble.
It was a ton of fun, and we got a decent rating.
Check out these tuba tips for better playing right away.
Carnival Of Venice: Jean-Baptise Arban
This tuba solo is hard, no doubt about it.
But one of the reasons it’s so iconic and important to tuba players isn’t just the quality of solo it is.
Roger Bobo, one of the first real tuba soloists out there, did a lot to make our instrument more popular by performing publicly.
He famously played this solo on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and showed the world what the tuba is capable of and how it’s not just an auxiliary instrument.
Every tuba soloist since then is almost required to perform this at some point to prove their chops, in a manner of speaking.
Encounters II: William Kraft
Encounters II by William Kraft is the pinnacle unaccompanied and modern tuba solo out there.
After a piece like Triumph from above, a tuba soloist can consider themself arrived if they can play this piece.
With some really unusual techniques, Encounters II will challenge the tuba player in ways they didn’t expect.
Here’s another recording by the icon, Roger Bobo.
Concerto For Tuba: Edward Gregson
A concerto is essentially a solo, except instead of piano accompaniment, a whole orchestra or band with additional instruments accompanies you.
The Gregson Tuba Concerto is a tuba solo played by many, and it’s one of the best out there.
It starts with a powerful and exciting band overture before a tuba cadenza kicks in.
Some movements are more accessible for great high school and undergraduate players (my wife, also a tuba player, did the third movement in high school!).
But some of the other ones are challenging enough to satisfy the itch at higher levels.
Plus, it simply sounds great to listen to.