Bugling - a lost art

[SSScout]

Definitely , a bugle with a removable mouthpiece. Then, as time and budget permits, replace the original skinny brass m/p with a cornet silver nickle one. The edge is wider and noticably more comfortable. Better tone. If you look around, you can also find 'winter' m/p that are made of a plastic, delrin I think. No freeze!!. If there is a choice, go for a B with the heaviest metal for ruggedness, and a tuning slide. They will tell you to coat the slide and m/p with a thin coat of Vaseline. Prevents corrosion and sticking. Wrap the holding part with a Scout neckerchief or other pretty rag, and your hands won't smell/taste like brass, which happens even if the horn is lacquered (worth the extra cost there).

Don't forget to shake it out and clean it out after each use. Wash it out with a mild dish detergent a couple of times a year to keep the green gunk from forming (luvly). Check with your local music store for cleaning rods.I found a neat springy one that can go around curves.

Trevorum: You know you want it! Get them chops back! You'll either be the most popular or reviled fellow at the next Camporee! YiS...

[Trevorum]

SSScout, I could never afford my own horn (other than the bugle), always relying on the school. Once I left college, I gradually lost the chops. Last year, a friend of my daughters brought over his euphonium and let me play. No chops, but I was amazed at the residual "finger memory" I still had.

 

 

[hendrickms24]

Bugling maybe dying out in the Boy Scouts but I see lots of young men playing at Civil War reenacting! This might be a little off topic but young Buglers are out there.

 

Mark Maranto

[tcherven]

I've recently started reading a number of posts here - a lot of great information. Saw this post and had to read it. I'm a trumpet player, and have sounded Taps at funerals, as mentioned. I'm also taking my horn with me to the the second weekend of Woodbadge training. (No brass players on staff).

 

What prompted me to post, however, is my son. He's currently a Webelos scout, and will be in 5th grade next fall. They start band in his school in 4th grade, and his choice of instrument was trumpet. My wife and I were talking about it and came up with a theory, which my son confirmed.

 

He wanted to learn to play the trumpet because he wants to be a bugler at scout camp. (He was rather chagrined when my wife and I figured it out, too.)