This iconic brass warm-up can be found in The Brass Gym under the name "Beautiful Sounds" and was made popular by legendary Chicago Symphony Orchestra tubist and brass pedagogue Arnold Jacobs. The exercise can be traced back to the vocal warm-ups of Giuseppe Concone, a 19th Century Italian vocal pedagogue. Giuseppe Concone's vocal warm-ups and etude books have been adapted for the tuba by Wesley Jacobs and is available here

 

This exercise focuses beautiful tone production, smooth legato playing, and fluency in all 12 keys...each skill being equally important to a developing brass player. The exercise can serve as key practice for a beginning tuba player, a wonderful warm-up for any level of tuba player, or a fantastic group exercise for sectionals, chamber ensembles, or private lessons.

 

This exercise can also be done on the mouthpiece alone to help the player improve audiation, intonation, air flow, and strengthen the ear-to-chop relationship.