| Tips from George Rabbai to remember when practicing the bugle: |
FREQUENT REST
Short pauses between groups of long notes and slur exercises will help your lips feel
fresh and build embouchure strength!
LONG TONES PLAYED SOFTLY
Long tones played too loudly will result in lip fatigue and will also break down the
muscle you are striving to build! NEVER FORCE THE TONE!
MINIMUM MOUTHPIECE PRESSURE
Too much mouthpiece pressure will also tire your lips and break down what you are
trying to build! Remember that your goal is to develop a good strong tone and lip
endurance so you can last longer an maintain lip accuracy. If you are feeling pain
where the lips are in contact with the mouthpiece rim, then that should be a
reminder that you are pressing TOO HARD!
Short pauses between groups of long notes and slur exercises will help your lips feel
fresh and build embouchure strength!
LONG TONES PLAYED SOFTLY
Long tones played too loudly will result in lip fatigue and will also break down the
muscle you are striving to build! NEVER FORCE THE TONE!
MINIMUM MOUTHPIECE PRESSURE
Too much mouthpiece pressure will also tire your lips and break down what you are
trying to build! Remember that your goal is to develop a good strong tone and lip
endurance so you can last longer an maintain lip accuracy. If you are feeling pain
where the lips are in contact with the mouthpiece rim, then that should be a
reminder that you are pressing TOO HARD!
| George Rabbai Photo by Rob Gibson |
LIP FLEXIBILITY DEPENDS ON AIR
When slurring from one partial to the next, depend more on moving the air column more rapidly in coordination with
the contraction of the lips. DON?T LET THE LIPS DO ALL THE WORK! Speed of air helps to make the slur easy.
HEAR THE SOUND YOU WANT TO CREATE
Know on which partial you are going to start - is it low C, middle G, or middle C? DO NOT MERELY PLAY BY FEEL!
Listen for the note before you begin to play. This will increase your chance of hitting the note.
KEEP THE THROAT OPEN
Get the sensation of a good yawn before playing the note. When the throat feels free and open, the tone is rich and
vibrant. Always go back to that yawning sensation when your throat starts to feel tense or squeezed. You must remind
yourself of this constantly until it becomes a natural reflex, which it will become through good practice habits.
When slurring from one partial to the next, depend more on moving the air column more rapidly in coordination with
the contraction of the lips. DON?T LET THE LIPS DO ALL THE WORK! Speed of air helps to make the slur easy.
HEAR THE SOUND YOU WANT TO CREATE
Know on which partial you are going to start - is it low C, middle G, or middle C? DO NOT MERELY PLAY BY FEEL!
Listen for the note before you begin to play. This will increase your chance of hitting the note.
KEEP THE THROAT OPEN
Get the sensation of a good yawn before playing the note. When the throat feels free and open, the tone is rich and
vibrant. Always go back to that yawning sensation when your throat starts to feel tense or squeezed. You must remind
yourself of this constantly until it becomes a natural reflex, which it will become through good practice habits.
George Rabbai has been a Civil War reenactor since 1990. He serves as bugler for the Mifflin Guard and his bugling can be heard in the upcoming Kevin Hershberger films
Wicked Spring and The Last Goodbye. George can also be heard and seen in the film at the Harrisburg Civil War museum. George's lyrical trumpet sound is featured in the
soundtrack of Baseball, a film by Ken Burns, which first aired nationally on PBS in 1994, as well as in Burns' epic documentary The West. His book Infantry Bugle Calls of the
American Civil War is the standard by which all bugling in the hobby is set. An active jazz performer and educator, he is currently on the faculties of Philadelphia's University of
the Arts and The Maynard Ferguson Institute of Jazz at Rowan University in Glassboro New Jersey. He makes frequent appearances at area schools as a jazz clinician, festival
adjudicator and featured artist.
Wicked Spring and The Last Goodbye. George can also be heard and seen in the film at the Harrisburg Civil War museum. George's lyrical trumpet sound is featured in the
soundtrack of Baseball, a film by Ken Burns, which first aired nationally on PBS in 1994, as well as in Burns' epic documentary The West. His book Infantry Bugle Calls of the
American Civil War is the standard by which all bugling in the hobby is set. An active jazz performer and educator, he is currently on the faculties of Philadelphia's University of
the Arts and The Maynard Ferguson Institute of Jazz at Rowan University in Glassboro New Jersey. He makes frequent appearances at area schools as a jazz clinician, festival
adjudicator and featured artist.