Shofar Practice Guide

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Arthur L. Finkle
music notes

Preparations One Whole Month Before Rosh Hashanah

Tisha B’av signals to me that there are 7-weeks before Rosh HaShanah. Therefore, I
spiritually prepare myself by practicingthe shofar at the beginning of the next
month - Elul. During Elul, we customarily sound the shofar at the end of mornin
g services.
== ==Sounding the shofar at services is a practical way of preparing for the “real
deal” on Rosh HaShanah. In addition, this period serves as a reminder to orient m
y attention to appropriate repentance.
== ==
Being a Shofar Sounder and Shofar teacher for 30+ years, I want to share a routi
ne is based on sound musical principals expressed (hopefully) in plain English.
If you have any questions or concerns, contact me at:
**Shofar221@lycos.com**

Or any of the websites below:

Joint Effort with Michael Chusid, an expert Shofar sounder and commentator
http://www.hearingshofar.com
Shofar Sounders WebPage
http://shofar221.com
Shofar WebPage
http://shofar-sounders.com
BLOGS
**http://shofar-sounders.blogspot.com/**
**http://hearingshofar.blogspot.com/**

== ==
Warm-Up
WE MUST WARM-UP! This should not be left to chance nor treated lightly by a seri
ous musician on any instrument. If I do not warm-up properly, my performance cer
tainly suffers. Most brass players have several routines. For Shofar sounding, I
suggest warming up on the fundamental note. In simple terms, a noise from a mus
ical instrument plays more than one note, called Harmonics, but the principal mu
sical tone produced by **vibration** (as of a string or column of air) is the fu
ndamental or most prominent tone. **http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/funda
mental**

Then, focus on your attack (how you articulate the note). Then play the Tekiah,
Shevorim, Shevorim-Teruah, and Tekiah. Your warm up should be at home because th
e shul does not offer privacy. In shul, you should hold the Shofar between your
arms so that the horn will become the same temperature as your body because the
instrument should be the same temperature or more than the room. A cold note bec
omes flat (off-tune or atonal).
The shofar’s sound is similar to creation as that of a brass instrument (Trumpet,
French horn, trombone, tuba, etc) in that the lips vibrate creating a “buzzing.”
You should practice buzzing; (brass players do this by playing the mouthpiece al
one. In the case of Shofar playing, you can buzz by shaping your thumb and foref
inger in the shape of a mouthpiece and blowing into it to stimulate your embouch
ure. (See The Art of French Horn Playing by Philip Farkas, The Complete Method b
y Milan Yancich, and Embouchure Building by Joseph Singer; there are many good r
esources out there.)
When Should I Warm-Up? How Much Should I Practice?
Professional brass players warm-up every time they get the instrument out of the
case to play. The first warm-up in the morning is the most important, as it set
s up your embouchure for the rest of the day. The second and third warm-ups are
usually shorter, but need to be there to maintain and build the embouchure.
Related issues are how much to practice, and when. I feel, if time allows, the s
erious brass student or professional usually practices three times a day for no
more than one hour apiece. A Shofar sounder, not being a professional in the bra
ss instrumentalist sense of the word, should practice each day at the same time
of day. Practice standing up; sitting down will change your embouchure.
Initially, practice the fundamental note until you feel your muscles get adjuste
d. Do not play too much beyond this level. If they tire, your muscles are tellin
g you that they have had enough. By repeated playing, however, your musculature
will develop into high quality sound and endurance. Ten minutes is the usual lim
it.
Once, you have mastered the one fundamental note, you should concentrate on the
attack. The quality of an attack is determined by the position of the tongue’s tou
ching the lips. In some cases, the tip of the front of the tongue can be the par
t of the tongue used to tongue the attack. In other cases, you can use the side
of your tongue. Some use the side of their side tongue and move it back. The tec
hnique that is most effective for the Sounder – and still allows maintenance of th
e correct embouchure -- is the correct way.

Week 1
During the first week, work on your embouchure (muscle tone of your lip and surr
ounding facial muscles) by sounding the most prominent note (fundamental).
How long – start with no more than 5-minutes per day; gradually increase this prac
tice time so you will build and tone your embouchure.

SHOFAR RANGE
Week 2
You should begin with phrase 1.

The tekiah is one blast – some end it with a small ‘up’ not (but is not necessary)
The shevarim is three moaning sounds. In music we call these slurs. They begin w
ith a low note and slide up to the dominant note. You accomplish this by tighten
ing the lips.
The Teruah – nine staccato notes. To avoid confusion, count the nine notes as thre
e triplets, thus: xxx xxx xxx. The notes are articulated by touching the tongue
to the tip of the shofar for nine times.
Tonguing needs practice and repetition to become natural.
Begin the play the sets

Phrase 2 - T-SH-T (3X) Tekiah-SHevarim -Tekiah

Phrase 3 - T-R-T (3X) Tekiah- teRuah-Tekiah
You may sustain ‘lip fatigue’ – your lip will tire and will not respond the way you de
sire.

Week 3
Continue practicing the phrases for as many times as you can In doing so, you wi
ll memorize the association of the sounds and their names . Also, you will build
stamina and embouchure definition. Note that you are focusing on endurance athl
etics but you do need a certain amount of stamina and lip strength to beat fatig
ue.
Learn Prayer To Be Recited On Rosh Hashanah

Praised are You, O Lord, Master of the Universe who has commanded us to hear the
shofar

Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech

Ha-olam, asher kid-shanu b-mitz-votav
Vi-tzi-vanu Lish-moa Kol Shofar.
First Day Only

Week 4
Work from the prayer book to practice each series of sounds. Some congregations
sound thirty note; others, ninety; most, 100 sounds.
On a couple of the days, I suggest you work with the kri’ah (the one who pronounce
s the sounds so you can coordinate your activities. You also will ‘feel each other
out,’ as so often happens in musical schemes.
On the day before Rosh HaShanah – do not practice. Although Jewish law forbids suc
h practice, the musical reason is to enable your embouchure to rest on the day p
rior to performance, such as soloists do prior to musical recitals.

Special thanks for significant input of premier shofar Sounder Michael Chusid, R
A FCSI