Task · part of 2. Two parts, both required
2(b). Compose a call, then play it to people
Required Often forgotten
THE PLAYING IS PART OF THE REQUIREMENT. Compose a call for a common group activity such as assembling for a meal or striking camp, then play it before your unit or patrol. A patrol counts, which is the easier audience to arrange and the smaller room to stand up in.
Notes and warnings
Warning. THIS REQUIREMENT IS NOT FINISHED WHEN THE CALL IS WRITTEN. It has to be played before your unit or patrol, so somebody has to put you on an agenda. A patrol counts as well as the whole troop, which is both the easier slot to get and the smaller audience to face, so use it if standing up in front of the troop is the part putting you off. CHOOSE WHAT THE CALL IS FOR BY LOOKING AT YOUR OWN TROOP: something that actually needs signalling and has no signal makes a better answer than a clever tune nobody uses. Assembling for a meal and striking camp are the badge's own two examples. Keep it short and keep it to the notes the instrument gives you, because a call that cannot be played across a field is not doing the job a call exists to do.
Where this step comes from
- Bugling Merit Badge Requirements (Merit Badge Hub, last modified 2026-07-30), Requirement 2(b) · The requirement asks for a call signalling a common group activity, such as assembling for mealtime or striking a campsite, played before your unit or patrol.