Starting a piece

[rocksanddirt]

be the director.

use your hand to establish the tempo you want during whatever intro there is, and at any other time you feel it needs it. A good accomapnist can see out the back/sides of their heads while site reading a piece.

[Bove]

If you're just talking about "starting a piece" and not the overall performance (is this correct?),

Inhale in tempo one beat before the piece starts and then play on the next beat.

What he said!

To be even more clear, you can make a small body/head motion/tuba motion/grunt on beat 1 (of the measure before the piece begins), then a clean inhale on beat 2, followed by your first note in measure 1... that will set up both the downbeat and tempo perfectly.

[JCalkin]

If you're just talking about "starting a piece" and not the overall performance (is this correct?),

Inhale in tempo one beat before the piece starts and then play on the next beat.

What he said!

To be even more clear, you can make a small body/head motion/tuba motion/grunt on beat 1 (of the measure before the piece begins), then a clean inhale on beat 2, followed by your first note in measure 1... that will set up both the downbeat and tempo perfectly.

Yes and yes.

It takes two beats to establish a tempo; one beat suspended and alone in time has no tempo. Just giving one beat of breath only works if the accompanist knows your tempo (more or less) exactly, and this does not sound like it's the case here.

When I last played the Plog my accompanist hadn't prepared the piece anywhere near the printed tempo marking because she assumed that the tuba was incapable of playing at that speed and, therefore, the printed marking must have been a misprint. I had to guide her each time with a gesture two beats prior and a breath one beat prior (standard quarter note length in each case).

[tclements]

For me, the key is have a good accompanist. My accompanist is right with me, even if I don't give her ANY indication. She is extraordinary. The best bet is to know the exact tempo in your hear, and breathe in, right in time, right on time. If you do this, any experienced accompanists should be able to pick up on your start.