sousaphone
/ˈsuːzəfəʊn
/noun
An American form of tuba with a wide bell pointing forward above the player’s head, used in marching bands.It was from the helicon that Conn in the USA devised the sousaphone for the American bandmaster John Philip Sousa....
- Out of the corner of my eye I saw a dozen musicians climb on stage with no less than 15 instruments, including sousaphone, bass trombone, accordion, pedal steel guitar, saw and theremin!
- Various songs also make use of mouthbow, harmonica, sousaphone and trombone.
Derivatives
sousaphonist
- In real life, the sousaphonist is always some scrawny schmuck who only wanted to play concert tuba for the Christmas pageant so his parents would have pictures.
- The sound is held together by the rhythm section of sousaphonist Mike and drummer Mark.
- Sure marching and playing are very important, but tuba players, particularly sousaphonists are not the sharpest pencils in the box.
Origin
1920s: named after J. P. Sousa (see Sousa, John Philip), on the pattern of saxophone.