I'm a huge proponent of to-do lists. I use one every day to help me remember what I need to get done. Items on my to-do list could be things like sending an email when I get to the office, picking something up from the store, or other things that I need to get done that day. I also have recurring tasks for things I need to do regularly, like writing new Tuba Tuesday emails or evening long tones for my practice rest day.
Have you ever thought about making a to-do list of things you need to practice today? In issue #14 of the Tuba Tuesday Newsletter I discussed becoming your own greatest asset by taking a proactive approach to directing your development as a player. One of the ways to do this that I mentioned was to record yourself and fix problems you hear in your recording. 
I record practice sessions regularly. I've got a recital coming up in two weeks and will record run-throughs of my recital repertoire several times between now and then. When I listen back to the recording I always use the sheet music of the piece I'm listening to for reference. As I listen and follow along in the part I write down feedback on what I hear.
This feedback could be complimentary, "Great entrance," or "Nice vibrato." Or it could be critical such as, "Accuracy, m. 65," or "Louder through crescendo, m. 122." I try to be as specific as possible with the criticisms so that I know exactly what to work on when it comes time to practice the piece again.
The list of feedback from listening is now your practice to-do list. Next time you practice you know exactly what to work on. Work your way through all of the criticisms and mark them off the list if you want. When you've fixed all of the problems, record yourself again. Listen, make a new list, and repeat the process. Do this as many times as you can before your performance.
One important suggestion; this process is most effective later in your performance preparation. I only start recording myself after I think I've fixed everything in the piece.
What's on your practice to-do list?
Thank you for reading!

Today I'll discuss being your own greatest asset.
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Happy practicing!

An asset, according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is an advantage or resource.
A liability is a debt or pecuniary obligation.
Let's re-frame my questions. If you have a lesson teacher, great! Pump them for every scrap of knowledge you can. You are with them a half hour a week or a full hour if you’re fortunate. 
You have yourself for the other 167 hours every week. So wouldn’t it be useful if you could be your own teacher? Are you an asset to yourself or a liability? 
How can you teach yourself? 

• Listen 
  • To recordings of anyone who’s better than you 
  • Imitate what you listen to 
  • Articulations 
  • Vibrato 
  • Phrasing 
  • Etc 
  • To all types of brass and classical performers 
• Record yourself 
  • Your routine 
  • Etudes 
  • Exercises 
  • Solos  
  • Record yourself playing in an ensemble (with your ensemble director's permission)
  • Record yourself in every performance/practice situation you can come up with
  • Record your lessons

How do you know what to fix? 

• The more you listen to others, the more you’ll hear problems in your own playing 
• Like anything worth doing, it takes practice 

How do I fix the mistakes I hear? 

• The practice room is a laboratory 
• You are a scientist 
• Run some experiments 
  • If something works take note and use it again in the future 
  • If it doesn’t work, forget it 

How do you plan to become your own greatest asset?
Thank you for reading!

Today I'll discuss my foundational rules for teaching.
Happy practicing!
Hey! It's been a while, stranger (I realize that I'm the one that was gone, but please disregard). School is back in session and I've already had several thought-provoking conversations with some of my students. Thank you, Allen, for helping me with this list!
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, an axiom is, "a statement accepted as true as the basis for argument or inference : postulate." Well, here are the axioms I use as the basis for my teaching.

1. Always be musical (play with expression).
2. Always produce your best sound.
3. Everything is an exercise in sound.
4. Practice is for problems.
5. If you can think it, you can play it.
6. Practice slow, learn fast. Practice fast, learn slow. (This one I stole shamelessly from Richard Murrow).
7. Be as efficient as possible when you practice and perform.

I'm sure I've missed a few, but I think the ones listed above are the most important.
What are your axioms?
Thank you for reading!

Today I'll introduce new materials on JeremyLewisTuba.com.
Happy practicing!
I recently took a group of students to the International Euphonium-Tuba Festival. There were lots of great activities at IET like private lessons, masterclasses, recitals, and ensembles. We had an awesome time. I was asked to present during the festival and in preparation I compiled three tiered daily routine packets. Here they are!
Routine I (tuba and euphonium)
This is the routine I give to anyone who hasn't worked through any of my routines yet.
Routine II (tuba and euphonium)
Routine II is a bridge between Routine I and III
Routine III (tuba and euphonium)
This is basically the routine I do every day.
A Few Notes on the Routines
Start with Routine I and increase difficulty incrementally each day. To increase difficulty you can extend the range of exercises (down and up), increase tempi, vary volume, change rhythms, etc. Once you've reached a plateau on any given exercise and been stuck for a few days, drop the difficulty back a few days of incremental increases and work your way past the point where you plateaued. Keep doing this until you are no longer able to break the plateau.
Once you've reached the limit of Routine I, move on to Routine II, then III. Note that you probably won't upgrade to Routine II or III all at once. That is to say, you can upgrade to Routine II Range before Flexibility, or Chromatics, or any of the other exercise categories. This is okay!
Keep a journal of everything you do in your routine. In my journal I put the date, how low and high I play during the Range exercise, and tempo in Chromatics, Flexibility, and Articulation. Refer back to the previous entry and go lower/higher, and faster.
Take your time. Be honest with yourself. There is no need to force progress to happen. Execution is of the utmost importance, not speed, volume, or high/low. If something doesn't sound like you imagine it should, slow down. If a slur isn't smooth, slow down! 
The routine is the most important playing you'll do every day. And you should do it every day (unless it's your day off). This is where progress really happens. Push yourself further every day and don't settle for anything less than your best. You'll be amazed by what you can accomplish. Record yourself playing your routine every now and then. More importantly, listen to and analyze what you hear.
How're your summer goals going?
Thank you for reading!

Today we'll discuss getting ahead of the competition by staying focused over the summer.
Happy practicing!
Summer is a great time to get ahead of your competition by working on fundamentals. Many people take it easy over the break. Last summer I made it my mission to improve my range both low an high. I set a goal of adding an octave and ended up adding about an octave and a half. You can read all about how I did it here.
Staying focused on the single goal of increasing range last summer worked so well that I decided to pick a different goal this summer and work towards it. This summer I want to increase my double tongue speed from sixteenths at quarter = 150 to sixteenths at quarter = 200.
I was inspired by a shooting drill that basketball superstar,  Lebron James does after practice. He takes three point shots until he's made 400. That's probably around 1,000 shots after he's been practicing and training all day, by the way. I like the idea of trying to improve double tongue technique with a high-volume (lots of repetitions) drill. My plan is to play through the Brum! exercise from the Brass Gym (euphonium and tuba) 200 times each practice day. There are 12 lines, so if I play the exercise top to bottom 17 times that's a total of 204 lines!
In the past week I've increased the tempo of the exercise to 160. I don't expect linear gains for very long. At some point I'll have to slow tempo increases down to 5 beats per week, then 2.5, then 1. Once I reach a plateau I'll switch exercises to some of the more advanced double tongue examples from the Arban book. After that, a different exercise. After that, maybe I'll experiment with tongue placement and try to find something more efficient/faster.
Without getting too far into the weeds, make sure your goals are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely). You can find more about SMART goals here.
What're your goals for this summer?
Thank you for reading!