John Fletcher - Flight of the Bumble Bee

[InTheVaultFilms]

like a boss

[DeathWearsAStrawhat]

He died when he was 45 or 46? Probably from lack of oxygen!

[Magicmaster020]

The miracle is that he didn´t pass out during this performance!

[tubaforlife]

goodness... wow... just... wow... I need more practice...

[Trainstation11]

Its going to take me years to play like that !!!!! But still amazing playing =)

[ducttape4tubas]

look at his face at the end!!!!! lol

[pokeman924]

HOW DO YOU PLAY THIS ON TUBA, WITHOUT PASSING OUT?! THIS MAN IS A BOSS!

[Lab101010]

@pokeman924 lol ikr? i play tuba (middle school band) and if i tried that at HALF tempo id like die.

[gamemaster911ct]

that was awsome!!!!!

[gmstone1998]

My new idol :)

[twinkieproductions9]

I Wish I Could Play Like That I'm Still A Beginner

[drnk2bee]

i wish i could play like this man could. so talented..

[TubasEveryDay]

WIN

[valveslide]

John Fletcher used to play this in performances with the PJBE in A minor. In this arrangement with brass band he is playing it in Ab minor. Any suggestions as to why that would be? Either way it goes to show what an incredible virtuoso he really was. What an inspiration!

[sstager13]

wow

[sstager13]

I just shit myself.

[1BIGBUCKEYE9]

i love his face at the end xD

[MRme7828]

not human....

[tanjianzhou]

flawless tonguing.. damn..

[Billie1982Jean1]

He played it in one minute seventeen seconds canadians brass's tubist chuck dallenbach played it in 35 seconds a world record

[blazingglory1997]

How is this possible on Tuba!

[TheHatTuba]

He made this sound so easy i tried to play it myself. A little harder than i thought.....

[CrazyChris1124]

Ummm yeah I love you end of story

[xkillerOO1]

I would love to play this song some day. As for the notes, I'm thinking that would be the easy part. It's just the breathing that'll get ya. The tuba's got to be one of the harder instruments to play that I have tried. the Euph. is the most suited for me.

[PoisonTester]

tuba shred!

[TheNineva]

At the very beginning he looks like Abraham Lincoln...

[garylee9966]

that's a cool music stand.

[hujklnm23]

y is he playing so softly?

[novidkid93]

@hujklnm23 hes doing that to conserve air, i play an instument like the tuba, but a bit smaller, and some of the other players ask me why i play soft when im holding long notes, and thats to conserve air,(those players are new) on this song there are long periods of nonstop playing, so on tuba you can guess that you might need to play softly to get through long parts, and even then its hard

[xkillerOO1]

@novidkid93 You play the Euphonium or are there instruments that I'm leaving out between the two?

[wolfgirl95nom]

Hooooolllllyyyy crap. o.o

[16mmDJ]

You can always tell when it's a Besson. It's designed more like a euphonium than an average tuba.

[vtuttle1]

I have him playing on a CD w/West Side Story and it is amazing!

[vtuttle1]

He was awesome on one CD i had that had West Side Story on it!!!

[kyuubisharinan3296]

euphoniums are better.... :P

[frankiegt10]

@kyuubisharinan3296

no they are just copycatz of tubaz

[maxiemo2]

@kyuubisharinan3296 Do you play one too?

[JazzyPick]

H3LL YEAH!!!!! :)

[HUMC4L]

I'm gonna play this my senior year!!

[linda305florida]

my mission is too learn how to play that !!!! I

[TheHatTuba]

was that a three piston tuba or a 3+1 tuba?

[brassheavy]

@TheHatTuba yes, full compensatting. Besson(Boosey and Hawkes EEb)

[spacecowboy7766]

thats crazy! i play tuba and i hate it

[HUMC4L]

@spacecowboy7766 What did you play before tuba, if anything?

[frankiegt10]

@spacecowboy7766

wow y

[XxSpiffxX]

Wow, he died at such a young age. How did he die?

[hammerinhand]

I did not think this was even possible...

[KimothyQ]

My eyebrows go like that when I play tuba too :)

[origamifreak1]

i play tuba and i watch this and i get inspired like this if it inspires u

[trombonetubabassoon]

@origamifreak1 sorry but the no1 liked this made me luagh heheeh

[jacobiscuits]

At the end he's like EJACULATION FACE!!! :D Love it. Great ambition of mine :)

[twinkie347]

at the end, hes like OH MY GOD

[holawwei]

bravo



[6eggc]

at the end he was like "oh yes..im done bitches"

[BEASTBALLERZ]

At the end he is like, THANK GOD IT'S FINALLY OVER!

[darksun95]

reminds me of the one bumblebee that struggles to fly and is always constantly raising up and down..

[CarleyCastro]

thats one fat bumblebee.

[guitarguyepiphone]

Oh my gosh! That was good. I play tuba and the most I have ever learned is a one note down beat xD

[tailyrthesailer]

amazing

[dozytubaplayer]

It's a Boosey & Hawkes EEb tuba, the forerunner to the Besson Sovereign. Fletch helped design that tuba

[2E0N0W2]

that face is priceless at the end! haha

[ZOMGItsRobot]

@darkraivscresselia nothing on a brass instrument is easy. I'd like to see you try to even hit one whole note with the kind of tone quality this man can produce.

[Coolhowi]

Abraham lincoln played tuba?

[DarkDuei]

reminds me of lincoln...

[JazzyZenBrotha]

Simply Amazing!

[BedBugBlues]

John Fletcher, a true genius of the tuba....

[BedBugBlues]

This is pure genius playing, top quality with unique technique and complete individuality.

[timmytuba]

Awesome performance! He seems to have trouble keeping that third finger on the valve, but he just nailed Flight of the Bumblebee, so who am I to judge?

[trombonetubabassoon]

1:18  hehehe

[trombonetubabassoon]

1:18 hehehe

[bigdaddyjones09]

besson Eb tuba

[brassheavy]

@bigdaddyjones09 Besson is the same as Boosey and Hawkes at that time.

[bigdaddyjones09]

besson Eb tuba

[dozytubaplayer]

Such a classy performance. So many people razz the last 3 notes and ruin it, but not Fletch. Pure genius, and beautifully played.

[darknevilsabre]

OMG

I need to learn sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oo much more!!!

[MRLOVINGOOD]

I've never seen this man before ,but I've heard about him.He's the cleanest player of this tune that I've ever heard.He plays with comfort and a relaxed attitude.I see this in his face as he plays.I'm blown away with this man's playing of the tuba.Praise the LORD.I got to see this again.Thanks " you tube".

[danterocks123321]

i got a 5 hour lesson from this guy way back in 1982. he knows his stuff

[27christina94]

WOW i play tuba and i could never so that u r AMAZING!!!!

[coingors]

Why when did he die?

[brassheavy]

See below.............

[brassheavy]

@coingors I had the same question, and asked his Daughter. " In answer to your question on John's age when he died, he had the brain haemmorage in March 1987 aged 45. Although he was resuccitated in hospital, he never regained consciousness & remained in this state for 8 months. He finally died on October 6th 1987 aged 46. Best regards,

Harriet Fletcher". This recording is made about 1985 prior for his death. Go to the Flechter website and order the book, it is good to read.

[hagonyourface]

@brassheavy Oh that is so sad :( far, far too young.

[sicus5D]

circular breathing possibly

[godofchucky]

no circular breathing, just watch his mouth more carefully. he takes a breath about every 10 seconds

[drumstyx6464]

why do so many good musicians die young?

[BlessedDesciple]

i bet he can hold his breath for a really long time

[TCpeepsFTW]

DANG! it takes a lot of air to play tuba. And to play it that fast with very little breaths... woww

[demonfox6789]

wow. i play tuba. i wish i could play it like that though....

[superduperamanda]

eargasmic.

[StopTheMoti0n]

this guy must be on TUBA'ROIDS!

[Impss12]

@StopTheMoti0n true,true :D

[thorish3]

@StopTheMoti0n mmm...tuabroids *drools*

[regn23nky]

woah.... that's hard... not the notes, but to play it that smooth...

[cookiemuncher500]

Wow...

[tubalooney]

That's a helluva big bumble bee!!

;-)

John Fletcher!!

Just a really lovely man and missed deeply.

[ultraman350]

omg amazing XD

i loved the exprishon on his face at the end.

[isaacsk813]

@ultraman350 agreed, but *expression

[enter931]

holy ball sack never seen any thing like that i wish i could do that im only a minor for tuba i wish i was that good

[penjora]

I thought i was amazing.....

[sicus5D]

You know something i like about this video is that john fletcher does this good , perfect dynamics technique , most people that play flight of the bumblebee play it as fast as they can just to show off when the challenging part isnt playing it , it's playing it well.

[whywhywhywhy2]

Ya i wish i could play that...

[krisnaedelkev]

WHOA~!

[Danezimus]

That was amazing. The last note was amazing and then the look he gave, just marvelous

[frostzor]

end note, fucking fabulous

[davidsilvamonje]

OOOOMMMMMMMMMMGGGGGGGGG

Fabulous!!!

[oXalwaysforyouXo]

lmao his face at the end XD

[flacosagri]

Buenísiimooo!!! El mejor Alien de todos los tiempos!!!

[flacosagri]

BBBBBBuuuueniiiiiissssssssiiii­iiiimoooo!!!! El mejor Alien de todos los tiemposs!!!

[FFBassooner]

The look on his face at the end of the video really says it all.

[Lauranna06]

damn.....just....DAMN!

[bassfan14]

wow, that .... just wow

[badgirl94player]

holy shit man thats awsome power to musicians!!

[Radium222]

OMG!!!!!!!!

[kujhac]

I've listened to this by trumpeters, euphonium players, tuba players etc. But this performance was just so clean. It was amazing.

[chris36619]

i could never play that fast

[bradbury112]

rubbish have u ever seen a euphonium.. that a tuba obvious

[jonbeeruk1]

Bass Tuba in Eb. Probably a Besson BE-981. It's the model that most tuba players in the UK used then and now for general purpose use.

[mpmcd81]

Boosey. But right on the money with what the current model is.

[sophiasnail]

The flight of the Contrabass Bumble Bee! Love it!

[cj614]

more like flight of the tubby bumblebee lol

[Kuntipac]

Me thinks it sounds better on the flute...

[Flashwarior]

If you like high-pitched squeals, yes.

[mryoung1989]

You realise it's a piano piece though yeah??

[MincedFeet]

i think it sounds the worst on a piano

[skillsmills18]

sorry toosweet4you1101 but that is a tuba, i dont know the brand but it is a EEb tuba for sure. I use to make the same mistake till i started playing tuba and found out that it can sound like a euph. when it gets into its upper reister.

[MincedFeet]

besson methinks

[MrMotastic]

Pretty sure that's a tuba...my teacher has one.

They are nice tubas by the way.

[caiteelovesteddys]

uhm, euphoniums aren't that big...

they don't have that big of a bell...

[brassheavy]

Guys it is a Boosey and hawkes EEb tuba! no mistake about this. John played EEb almost his hole live. And symphony stuff on a HoltonCC. funny that you have this discussion.... it proves his amazing skill to let you guys think it is a euphonium(NOT!!) ;-))

[caiteelovesteddys]

i know!

i said it was a tuba...

not that it WAS a euph.

[bigdaddyjones09]

@brassheavy are you sure i was told it was a besson eb tuba.

[pineapplezzandstuff]

@caiteelovesteddys my bell is massive

[synthplaya]

nope its a tuba i play euphonium. he's just going really high on the tuba.

[mpmcd81]

John is a legend on the tuba and taken from us much too soon. It's to participate in all kinds of music that expands what tubists have written explicitly for them.

John was a truly beautiful musician who just happened to play the tuba. The world sorely misses him.

[TrndyGurl]

oh my gosh amazing

[synthplaya]

look at his face at the end! XD

[MajinBuu609]

holy shit.. i wonder how the music for it looks like... and its not just fast fingers, its fast tonguing too. u can tell when he holds the 1st and 3rd valve only and is only doings staccato's

[kampori]

Luckily it's all slurred, so fast fingers and intonation are in fact 'all there is' to it.

[Orfius1122]

lolz at the face. and crap u were playing high for a tuba that was nuts! great jorb!

[imtromplayer]

just WOW!

[MtAkIcKsAsS]

son a bitch one of the best tuba players iv'e seen wow

[pedromcgriddles]

it's supposed to sound slurred because the only part that isn't slurred is around 0:18. This piece can work on just about any instrument depending on the skill level of the person playing the piece. Mr. Fletcher has surely demonstrated this, and it is a shame that you are not bright enough to realize it.

[bekahthetubaqueen]

Wow. . .

[tubaman1019]

OMG his face in the end was priceless! lol!

[damianwrx]

Nice skills.

It is AMAZINGLY hard to play this on a Tuba. It's so much more than pushing the valves.

[gauthierb018]

I am a tuba player and I know that this is hard to do on a tuba - skill!!!

[daverask91]

i'm not a tuba player and i know that htis is hard to do on a tuba - skill!!!

[wingedgallop]

My band director wants me to play this piece for high school band!  Jeez, how am I supposed to do that?!?!

[gothrowsome2a]

just play it slowly, and then you can play it fast

cuz its really just fast fingers

so slowly start off then go faster

i pulled this off in about a week, so just stick at it!

[Zeratul0831]

That's the spirit!

[brassheavy]

Let´s see you video?!

[thewelford]

Why do you need sheet music ?

[SuperSax875]

cuz hes sight reading :p

[flamingdingleberry]

LOVE that last note!  It nearly made me poop my pants. (brown note, LOL)

But seriously, how the hell does someone push those damned heavy-ass valves so fast? Must be able to crack a walnut with those damned fingers of his.

Wow.

[pacoperkid13]

i think there may be the possibility also that he could have been using lighter springs in the valves but tat s still quite a feat to do on tuba

[alexaflood]

I'm still new... but I could be right.

Anyways, I've always been told that you're supposed to keep your fingers nicely curved, as he does in the video. I still see even people who have been playing for a long time, just not keep them like that. They slightly curve them, but not like this guy does.

Apparently if they are curved like they are in the video, then it takes less energy to push them down.

This is just how I understand it though.

[RyanFlynn91]

No, you're right. There are tuba players that play with their fingers entirely flat, but wonder why they can't get the speed that musicians like him to.

For any brass instrument that has valves, it's best to make sure your fingers are fully curved, so you can play at your best.

[DCMBbaritone]

godly but it sounds better on the euphonium

[carlfstanley]

i love the stars in the background. Makes it much more epic.

[silverblotter]

how the hell manage to do that !!! ur really good

[sandman2o11]

love the look on his face at the end

[dgwilliams55]

Had the privilege of playing with him a few times in the 70s. He was a great musician and a tuba god.

[ericlawhammer]

his fingers look so natural and smooth, ive seen him live twice

[jocobo99]

nice pedal at the end

[BassistSpace]

isnt dat fking tiring to do??

ill probably faint or sumthing

to do sumthing li3k dat

anyways HOLY FUCK dat was COOL

[vegasboundordie]

Fletch...what a player!!

He was the Tuba player with the LSO when the world was robbed of his talent in 1987 at age 46.

[YoFabs99]

That was awesome. My friend plays the tuba but he could never have that kind of air support or that control on his breathing. You were amazing.

[blahh24005]

looks like abraham lincoln sorta =D

[all4trance]

Roland Szentpali's is better!

[brassheavy]

Sure you can say that, but you have to think about your musical taste in mine opinion....

Roland's performance is for me more like a circus act... I know it is hard not to do with this piece. Both amazing tuba players.

[PopeGC3N]

Wow. Incredible breath control. Wish I could sound that clean with that kind of breath control.

He's got the best expression on his face there at the end, too.

[ilikepie456]

1:18 john has a bandgasm

[emdawg10]

rofl

[EuphoniumPlayer08]

ha that was a good one!

[clivez1]

Wonderful technique, huge register, great breath control, SO clear and a great pedal to finish! Class, sheer class.