You put a pencil between your lips.

Push your bottom lip up toward the top lip until

the pencil is elevated at about 10-20 degrees up from being horizontal to the
ground.

At first you'll probably be able to do this for about 30 seconds. The lead players
who can really hit the upper register all night long can do it for four minutes.

It's a really amazing exercise. The muscles that get sore are the ones you will need
to work on for range. The exercise also balances the muscle strength left to right
and top lip to bottom lip. This makes the embouchure much more efficient
because all of the muscles are working the same amount to play.

You can usually tell how high someone can play (all night long) by how long they
can do the pencil exercise.

Without fail people who can't play above high C can't hold it for more than a
minute and a half.

I have seen people who have played for 40+ years who couldn't hold a full length
Pencil at all. It fell by the count of 4. These people also struggle at the top of the
staff. People who can play in the F and G (over high C) range tend to be able to hold
the pencil 2 and a half minutes.
I have also noticed that some people substitute more weight with a shorter rod.
There is more than likely nothing wrong with this.

But a pencil is after all the device that was used for many years by teachers like Dr.
Reinhardt, and Dr. Stevens. We have thousands upon thousands of real life studies
to compare and judge how much and how often to do this without causing lip
stiffness. Not so with other items you may use.

The goal is to develop muscle strength and awareness without straining yourself.
That is why I start you off with the smaller pencil.

Notice the slight pout of the lower lip. This is needed by some people to align the
lips so that they can apply compression. If you need to use this for the exercise
then you might benefit from using it when you play also.

Even if you CAN do the big pencil do NOT start with it. Muscle strain means you
don't play for a day or two. And it is too easy to avoid.

Some people can do these exercises every day and keep getting stronger and
stronger. While others start to experience endurance problems (due to fatigue) and
need to do these every other day (Mon-Wed-Fri or Tue-Thur-Sat) so their muscles
can rest. This is something that only you can decide. We all start at different
strength levels and are all built differently.

This is an EXERCISE; it rarely has the same feel that we use to play (in the mid and
low register). So don’t worry about that.
But it can be useful to help us find how our body likes to make compression and to
learn to compress for the upper register. It also has been know to cure minor
embouchure flaws without any work on our part. The feel here MAY be the feel you
should use in your upper register. Changing to this feel up high has helped many to
add to their range.

Week 1
Day 1-6

Place the end of the small pencil against your teeth. Close the teeth so that you
don’t move the jaw to support the pencil. Using the jaw completely defeats the
exercise.

Close your lips around the pencil and squeeze. Hold the pencil in place and make it
level with the ground.

Hold for 1 minute. And stop. Repeat this 1 more time during the day.
Total time is 2 minutes. More time CAN cause stiffness and problems. Plus there
are diminishing returns. Some can do this daily but others will need to do it every
other day. Do NOT over exercise.

Day 7 No exercise.

Week 2
Days 1-6

Hold the short pencil for 1 and 1/2 minutes. Repeat this 1 more time during the
day. Total of 3 minutes a day.

Remember; Keep the TEETH CLOSED.

More time CAN cause stiffness and problems. If you are feeling tired or having
endurance or range problems then cut back to every other day. Some can do this
daily but others will need to do it every other day. Do NOT over exercise.

Day 7 Rest.
 Week 3
Days 1-6

Hold the short pencil for 2 minutes 2 times a day.

Day 7 Nothing.
Remember;
More than 4 minutes CAN cause stiffness and problems. Some can do this daily
but others will need to do it every other day. Do NOT over exercise.
 Week 4
Days 1-6

Full length pencil for 1 minute 2 times a day.

Remember; more time CAN cause stiffness and problems. If you are feeling tired or
having endurance or range problems then cut back to every other day. Some can
do this daily but others will need to do it every other day. Do NOT over exercise.

Day 7 Rest.

If your pencil ever hangs at this angle then it is time to STOP. You are not getting
much if any benefit from this.
Week 5
Days 1-6

Full length pencil for 1 and 1/2 minutes. 2 times a day.

Remember; more time CAN cause stiffness and problems. If you are feeling tired or
having endurance or range problems then cut back to every other day.

Day 7 Rest.
 Week 6
Days 1-6

Full length pencil for 2 minutes. 2 times a day.

Remember; more time CAN cause stiffness and problems. If you are feeling tired or
having endurance or range problems then cut back to every other day.

Day 7 Rest.
 Week 7
Days 1-6

Full length pencil for 2 and 1/2 minutes. 2 times a day.

Remember; more time CAN cause stiffness and problems. If you are feeling tired or
having endurance or range problems then cut back to every other day. Some can
do this daily but others will need to do it every other day. Do NOT over exercise.

Day 7 Rest.

Week 8
Days 1-6

Full length pencil for 3 minutes 1 time a day.

Then 1 session of 20 reps where the end of the pencil is lowered (by relaxing the
lips) and raised by squeezing the lips.
This exercise helps you to gain control over wide intervals (3+ octaves) and teaches
you how your body wants you to do compression for more range.

Remember; more time CAN cause stiffness and problems. If you are feeling tired or
having endurance or range problems then cut back to every other day. Some can
do this daily but others will need to do it every other day. Do NOT over exercise.

Day 7 Rest.

Week 9
Days 1-6

Full length pencil for 3 and 1/2 minutes. 1 time a day.

Then 1 session of 40 reps where the end of the pencil is lowered (by relaxing the
lips) and raised by squeezing the lips.

Remember; more time CAN cause stiffness and problems. If you are feeling tired or
having endurance or range problems then cut back to every other day. Some can
do this daily but others will need to do it every other day. Do NOT over exercise.

Day 7 Rest.

Week 10
Days 1-6

Full length pencil for 4 minutes. 1 time a day.

Then 1 session of 60 reps where the end of the pencil is lowered (by relaxing the
lips) and raised by squeezing the lips.
Remember; more time CAN cause stiffness and problems. If you are feeling tired or
having endurance or range problems then cut back to every other day. Some can
do this daily but others will need to do it every other day. Do NOT over exercise.

Day 7 Rest.

To maintain your strength you only need to do the 4 minute hold 1 time a week
(Monday). And then do 60 reps of the raising of the end 1 time a week (Thursday)

(You want to space these out so that you stay strong.)

Remember More than 4 minutes CAN cause stiffness and problems. Real playing
problems for some people. 4 minutes total has not been shown to do this. Plus
there are diminishing returns. 5-6 ... minutes doesn't give any noticeable range or
endurance over 4 minutes. But more time does show lip stiffness and slower
response.

Along with this group of exercises you will want to practice very, very, very soft
playing. This will do several things.

1. Make your playing more responsive (easier to get clean starts

with less effort.)
2. You will learn how to control a smaller lip aperture and gain
control of the upper register.
3. You will make the lips more supple and allow the smaller
vibrations needed for the upper register to come out.
4. You will gain lip flexibility.

You may also want to work on reducing mouthpiece pressure.

Playing while holding the horn as if it were hanging on a hook helps. Don’t grab a
hook or a ring and relax the grip on the horn. You just let the horn sit on the crook
of your thumb and a finger. Don’t curl the fingers or grab the horn at all. Place the
thumb of the right hand against the valve casing so you keep a secure feeling and
can use the valves efficiently.

Play real exercises like Clarke or Schlossberg this way. In a few days all of your
range and tone returns and you have reduced the pressure.
The last thing I want to discuss here is about breathing. The mouthpiece takes up a
large percentage of our lip length. As a result many people stretch their lips back
when they breathe.

This pulls the lower lip slightly out of the mouthpiece and for some it looks like this.
The lower lip can not go back to its normal playing position. So it tries to continue
playing by rolling the soft inside tissue into the hole that was made during the
breath.

That not only looks vastly different from this normal shot but also affects tone,
range, endurance……

The easy way to fix or prevent this is to only breathe through 1 mouthcorner. That
keeps you from having to stretch the lips and allows the embouchure to stay in
position.

Clint ‘Pops’ McLaughlin copyright 2003

http://www.BbTrumpet.com