032 - Buy a bugle and learn to play Taps

I think the first time that I heard Taps was as a kid watching the movie No Time for Sergeants.

In it, Andy Griffith plays a country boy US Air Force recruit (kind of like Gomer Pyle is a country boy marine recruit.) There's a scene where he is in the barracks his first night when lights out is called. From outside, the lovely 24 note tune, Taps, is played. Airman Stockdale, Griffith's character, says thoughtfully, "Somebody brung their trumpet." It was a beautiful sound and it seemed to calm my emotions, even while watching a screwball comedy movie.

Then I heard it in 1975, when my young uncle, Albert, my teenage uncle, died while in the Marine Corps on a Navy ship off the coast near Thailand. I answered the door when the men in their dress uniforms came to tell my grandmother (I used to spend at least one day a week with her during the summer months.) When Al was buried with a full military ceremony, they did the 3 volley salute (seven rifles, fired three times) and the bugler played Taps in the distance.

I played trumpet in elementary school band for a few years, but gave it up. Now, I think I want to get a valveless bugle. I want to learn to play Taps.

It didn't help when about ten years ago I finally read From Here to Eternity by James Jones. (I can't recommend the book enough.) I lived in Hawaii for many years and knew the places Jones refers to very well. One of the main protagonists in the book, Private Prewitt, is the company bugler. He plays bugle like no other. No matter what people think of him, they are astounded when they hear him play. (If you can't read the National Book Award winning novel, then at least rent the movie made the following year.)

All my life, the desire to play bugle, especially Taps, has been ricocheting around my subconscious. I need to act on it, so here it is on the 101 in 1,001 list.

Please do not misunderstand. Taps is not a morbid tune. It is a short melody that practically forces calm and quiet. It centers one, causing introspection and thoughtfulness. The spiritual nature of the piece (especially for someone who isn't traditionally spiritual, like me) appeals to me. I feel the same way about certain classical and new age compositions, but for those, I don't hold out hope of learning how to perform them.

I linked an .mp3 of Taps to the image of the bugle. Click on the image and a window will open and it will play on your preferred applications (winamp, media player, etc.)