Shofar Practice Schedule

Arthur L. Finkle

Preparations One Whole Month Before Rosh Hashanah

Tisha B’av signals to me that there are 7-weeks before Rosh HaShanah.
Therefore, I should prepare myself mentally to devote practicing the shofar
at the beginning of the next month - Elul.

Customarily, we sound the shofar at the end of morning (and, in some

place, afternoon) 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 my attention to appropriate repentance.

Being a Shofar Sounder for 30+ years, I have established a routine which I
want to convey to readers of this article. The routine 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
serious musician on any instrument. If I do not warm-up properly, my performance
certainly 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 musical
instrument plays more than one note, called Harmonics, but the principal musical tone produced
by vibration (as of a string or column of air) is the fundamental or most prominent tone.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fundamental 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 the 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 becomes flat (off-tune or atonal).

The shofar’s sound is similar to creation as that of a brass instrument b(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 alone.
In the case of Shofar playing, you can buzz by shaping your thumb and forefinger in
the shape of a mouthpiece and blowing into it to stimulate your embouchure. (See The
Art of French Horn Playing by Philip Farkas, The Complete Method by Milan
Yancich, and Embouchure Building by Joseph Singer; there are many good resources
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 sets 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 serious
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 brass 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 adjusted. Do
not play too much beyond this level. If they tire, your muscles are telling 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 limit.

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 touching
the lips. In some cases, the tip of the front of the tongue can be the part 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 technique that is most
effective for the Shofar Sounder – and still allows maintenance of the correct
embouchure -- is the correct way.
 

Week 1

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

SHOFAR RANGE

Week 2

Begin the play the sets

Phrase I - T-SH-R-T (3X) Tekiah-SHevarim-teRuah-Tekiah

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
desire.
 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 sounds slurs. They
begin with a low note and slide up to the dominant note. You accomplish this by
tightening the lips from the dominant note to the third above note.
The Teruah – nine staccato notes. To avoid confusion, count the nine notes as three
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.

Week 3

Continue practicing the phrases for as many times as you can In doing so, you will
memorize the the association of the sounds and their names . Also, you will build
stamina and embouchure definition. Note that you are focusing on endurance athletics
but you do need a certain amount of stamina and lip strength to beat fatigue.

Learn Prayer To Be Recited On Rosh Hashanah

Praised are You, O Lord, Master of the Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech
Universe who has commanded us to Ha-olam, asher kid-shanu b-mitz-votav
hear the shofar 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
pronounces 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
such practice, the musical reason is to enable your embouchure to rest on the day prior
to performance, such as soloists do prior to musical recitals.

Special thanks for significant input of premier shofar Sounder Michael Chusin