This story takes place in an orchestra featuring, among each other, a piccolo (Peepo), a flute, an oboe, a clarinet, a bassoon, a trumpet, a French horn, a trombone, a tuba (Tubby), a violin, a cello, a double bass, a xylophone, cymbals, a timpani and a celeste. Tubby, the orchestra's tuba, comments after a rehearsal's warmup that he is tired of playing only the bass line. This draws ridicule from the other instruments, and Tubby runs off crying to a nearby creek.