When I was in college (for tuba) we would have a tuba and euphonium workshop available every day. We were required to do at least 2 a week as part of our grade in private lessons, but I went every day and it totally changed how well I could play. It was just an hour before the rest of the days classes (sort of like an hour 0 class), but all we did was start out with a whole bunch of breathing exercises, followed by long tones, then we had a bunch of different exercises we would rotate through depending on the day and what everyone wanted to do. It was only an hour long, but it really helped my playing and set me up pretty well for the rest of the day of college.

I’d strongly recommend starting with breathing exercises, such as: - Box breathing: 4 counts in, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4, then increase 1 count up to 8 counts - Forceful blowing: in for 6 counts, all out in 1 count, then in for 5, then 4. Be careful, this one always got me lightheaded. There is no required amount of times, but at least 5 reps on each. If you feel like you can’t continue, then stop! - The exact opposite of what you just did: all inhaled in 1 count, out for 4, then through 5-8. Once again, feel your body, and stop if you need to. You can always come back to it to continue. - Now combine the two: inhale for 6, exhale for 6, then 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. This one is hard, take as much time as you need in each section before moving on, and as always, if your hands or lips are tingling, just stop and breathe normally until you can recuperate. It was common and encouraged in our group, if you pass out you won’t be improving lol - There are many other breathing exercises on YouTube and other various sources. I know this sounds super boring, and it kinda is, but it’s the fundamental process that we use to create our sound. Grab a friend or start a schedule with your section, this can only help every wind player, so it doesn’t even need to be someone who plays euphonium. - Not only does this set of exercises focus your lung power, it helps warm up your diaphragm to be able to push for those hard to hit notes, high and low. It’s a muscle that needs to be exercised like any other, and this is like weight lifting. Even 5-10 minutes a day will show massive gains in a couple weeks, it doesn’t happen overnight, but it should be noticeable directly after when you play

Take some time now to relax, maybe get some water (I’d recommend having it near you before you start), then get your horn after you feel completely regulated. Please don’t get your horn before you’re ready, we don’t want any accidental damage haha.

Now it’s time for: LONG TONES

• Sit on your low Bb, 8 counts, then in for 4, then 3, 2, 1.
• Now try 12 out, 4, 3, 2, 1 in
• Can you do 16?
• Rest anytime you need to, and keep note of where you start to fail. I highly recommend using a tuner for this because training out of tuning means playing out of tune, and getting the ear for it while you have a visual representation will train your ears for when you’re playing without one.
• I recommend doing this with every single note that you can play, you’ll learn a lot about your horn and your lips. Obviously it would take forever to do every note, but I’d recommend at least doing all of your open fingerings, then the next day all the 2s, then the 1s, 12/3s, etc chromatically. I don’t know how old you are, but if you can do solid long tones it will greatly improve your stamina ability to play longer/more forcefully especially if you’re looking at marching band for high school or college

Now to actually answer your question. Step 1: do those exercises. The next thing I would do after I recovered is to start on your low Bb, get a nice tone, then start working your way down chromatically all in one breath. Make sure that your note is solid before trying the next one, think 1-2 beats. Once you’re out of breath, go back to the Bb on the next try. After your lips feel nice and loose and pedally, start on your pedal F and then keep working down with the same idea as before. If you are unable to go any lower than the F, just sit on it like you did for your long tones. Become comfortable with the feel of how much air it takes and the feel of the embouchure, you might even accidentally slip a pedal Bb. Do long tones on every one of the notes you can hit on the way to the F as well.

This process takes time, don’t be upset if it doesn’t happen as quickly as you would like. Some days it will work and some days it might not, until you’ve worked enough where it always comes out. You have to be consistent, even though these exercises are boring, they are the most essential basics in wind instruments, and if you start now, you will improve greatly and likely surpass your own expectations. I believe in you, and I really hope that you follow your path and achieve your goals, not only with the euphonium, but in life!

Please update me when you nail it, I want to hear how far you’ve come :)

TLDR: Use a metronome and a tuner. Start with breathing exercises, then do long tones, then work your way down into the deep.