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Now, to sound off!
Put your tongue at the roof of your mouth, in front, and
pronounce the word "tu.'? At the same time let your tongue
drop down to let the air be expelled into the mouthpiece. Never
let any air escape through the corners of the mouth. Don't blow
too hard. Try it quite gently and only blow harder if you find
it necessary. Too many buglers blow too hard. It is not neces-
sary and it is hard on your lips.
This tongue and breath action is called the "attack." You
should follow it with an even flow of air (on sustained notes)
to produce a clear even tone.
That is how the bugle is blown, described to the best of our
ability. It is easy for some people; harder for others. With prac-
tice and the strengthening of the lips it becomes perfectly
simple for anybody.
Playing the Notes
Start with the note G on the second line of the staff. This
is the easiest one for most beginners to play. If you have a
piano handy, sound G on it and then try to reproduce its tone.
If you don't have a piano, you will have to learn by experiment
and experience.
The pitch (highness or lowness) of the notes is governed
largely by the degree to which you contract or relax your lips.
To produce the higher notes, you contract your lips more. This
is done by drawing back the corners of the lips as though you
were going to smile. When you do this, you reduce the thick-
ness of the lips at the mouthpiece.
Do not use great blasts of breath to produce the high notes.
They can easily be produced with normal breath if you con-
tract your lips the right way and breathe in deeply so you can
control the tone from your diaphragm, rather than your mouth
or throat.
Practice on G until you have made a little progress toward
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