Sound Innovations for Concert Band: Ensemble Development for Young Concert Band: Tuba Book

This book distills decades of pedagogical insight into a systematic progression that actually works for real ensembles. Boonshaft and his collaborators have written something rare: exercises that feel purposeful rather than tedious, and chorales that students want to play because the music itself is engaging. The structured grouping by key and exercise type means you can target exactly what your section needs without flipping endlessly through generic materials.

These exercises balance discipline with musicality. The technical work feels purposeful because each exercise type builds toward a specific skill, and the chorales offer frequent opportunities to apply that work in a musical context. Long tones establish vocal tone quality while moving chord tones exercises develop harmonic awareness that extends far beyond simple note-reading.

Tuba players in beginning concert bands benefit most from this focused approach to ensemble fundamentals. Directors building a young section or working with students transitioning from method book instruction will find the structured progression invaluable for developing both technical and musical competence.

• Start with long tones before moving to any technical work. A stable foundation in tone production transforms how the rest of the exercises sound and what students can accomplish with them.
• Use the chorales as your daily opening warm-up material. They reinforce intonation work from the technical exercises while building musicianship in a context that feels like real music-making.
• Rotate through different exercise types across rehearsals rather than completing one entire section at once. This prevents monotony and allows students to encounter similar concepts from different angles.
• Have students sing passages before playing them, especially in the harmony-focused exercises. The voice-first approach builds deeper understanding of pitch relationships than playing alone.

Open every rehearsal with a selection from this book, rotating through different exercise types across the week. This approach maintains consistency in your technical training while the chorales provide ready-made material for sectional work or small ensemble performances at school events.

• Long tone production with consistent air support and tone quality
• Intonation matching within chord structures and harmonic progressions
• Reading and executing interval patterns (perfect fourths, fifths, octaves, and beyond)
• Pitch accuracy when passing melodic lines across chord changes
• Understanding diatonic harmony through voice-leading exercises
• Rhythmic precision in subdivided passages and syncopated rhythms
• Scale construction at five, six, and eight-note levels
• Harmonic awareness through chord-tone arpeggios and voice movement