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The Wagner tuba is a narrow-bore tuba with a French-horn mouthpiece. Tubas appeared first in Berlin in the 1820s, soon after the invention of the valve. They were soon accepted into the band and orchestra, displacing the serpent, ophicleide, and other such instruments of poorer tone quality and intonation.
The Prussian Army helped make the Tuba popular. Their marching band directors liked the big, bold sound the tuba makes. After the Prussians started using the tuba other countries started making their own tubas. Tubas come in lots of different shapes and names like the Bombardon, Flugelhorn, and Helicon, but now it is most commonly called the Tuba. Tubas were originally designed to be played while marching instead of while sitting. To begin with the player held the Tuba on his shoulder.