Chet Kos (@OnYourLeft)

Tuba questions. 1. I play a Bb tuba as well as a Bb trumpet. When playing the written notes on the T.C. with my Bb trumpet, I sound two half steps lower, therefore the Bb trumpet is a transposing instrument. But when I play the written notes of the B.C. w my Bb tuba, I sound the written notes. Further, my tuba score is in the same key as the flute in our band. Why then is it called a "Bb tuba"? 2. Before buying this Bb tuba, I was offered to use an Eb tuba with the instruction to simply play the written notes of the B.C. as if they were on the T.C., with a few accidentals added, using the same fingering I learned for my Bb trumpet. Why would this work, specifically in terms of keys and half-steps? 3. In orchestral band everyone sounds in the same key. In British Brass Band, is the intent for the Eb and Bb instruments to sound in different keys, as if to create a chord a fifth apart?