Pencil exercise?

Freshman'11 · Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:03 am Post subject: Pencil exercise?

What exactly is the "pencil exercise", how is it done, and what does it do?

Jerry Freedman · Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:08 am Post subject:

Searh TH. This has been discussed every couple of months for as long as I have been on TH. I think Eric Bolvin even has a youtube entry on it.

BTW..like all interesting subjects this is controverisial. Some like it, violently, some hate it, vioently and some are sick of the subject, violently

dbacon · Heavyweight Member Joined: 11 Nov 2001 Posts: 8592

butxifxnot · Heavyweight Member Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 2353

Violently?
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rosin · Veteran Member Joined: 26 Jun 2006 Posts: 152

blow the trumpet..is better than playing the pencil:)

Wes Clarke · Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 2:39 am Post subject:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_INaCr8rd-E

Kevin11inTX · Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2007 9:30 am Post subject:

Kevin Burns · Veteran Member Joined: 15 Nov 2006 Posts: 179

At the risk of boring some of the members that have watched these posts for years and have seen different topics repeat themselves by us newbies, I will offer that I do the pencil exercise if I am not playing as much as I usually do (usually on vacation and during travel days of a tour). I became a die hard advocate when I toured once to Russia about 15 years ago - I didn't touch my horn for three solid days because of traveling (planes, trains, & buses, sight seeing, & jet lag), etc. I did the pencil excercise faithfully though, and when I picked my horn up I was totally strong and had tons of endurance. After three days of not playing I usually have no endurance and only feel good for about 10 minutes. I was knocked out by how strong I felt after 3 days of just the pencil excercise.

I will offer this warning as I'm sure anyone with experience would:

The pencil exercise is not any kind of substitute for real practice. It is strictly a get by for me when I am not playing in my normal routine. I experimented with it years ago and found it rather destructive as a daily routine - mainly because I was wishing (at the time) that it would be some kind of magic potion for my chops. Alas it was not, and I was enlightened once again that only quality time with the horn is the answer to any pursuit on the instrument. But I still claim it to be a wonderful 'bridge' to keeping the chops strong during extended off times.

There are different approaches to the pencil method. Some hold the pencil between their lips in front of the teeth. Some (like me) hold the pencil between the lips as well as between the teeth. The between the teeth version is based on the idea that the pencil sized distance between the teeth is the appropriate space that the teeth should be open while playing therefore part of the exercise is learning that 'muscle memory.' I personally think that the isometric exercise of either version is the main benefit of the exercise and since I don't use is as part of my daily routine I don't think it matters. The act of focusing the embochure around the pencil is remarkable effective in strengthening those muscles. I also hold the pencil at a slight upward angle, but only because I'm an upstream player and I try to mimic that 'set' of my jaw being forward.

If you haven't done it before it will feel like your embochure is burned out to total muscle failure in only a couple of minutes. This is why some fear it - and rightly so. It is like power lifting for the chops. Total muscle building with zero flexiblity training and zero 'cardio' benefit. Trumpet playing is a balance of strength, flexibility, and above all air control. Don't ever sacrifice one for the other.

My gig and style of playing by the way is very lead trumpet commercial/big band oriented and requires more brute strength rather than sensitivity so take that in context of this exercise as well.

Thanks for indulging my post as it is probably old hat for many.

ldwoods · Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 7:54 pm Post subject:

Kevin,
Yes, it may be "old hat", but you offered something that NOBODY else can. You explained YOUR experience, and quite well I might add. I would much rather read posts like that, as opposed to the self-proclaimed experts who theorize on various facets of trumpet playing and practice, get hostile, and are generally aggressively "stirring the pot".

Thanks for taking the time to share.

Larry Woods

EBjazz · Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 8:09 am Post subject:

Here's the link to the vid http://www.bolvinmusic.com/mandt.html

Eb
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chopissimo · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 12:43 pm Post subject:

ChuckNorrisOfTrumpet · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 1:20 pm Post subject:

If you like the pencil exercise... check these out:

http://www.liemartech.com/Chop-Sticks/

its like the pencil exercise mixed with weight training

I use them in the car, at work or in between practice sessions. They were great when I had my wisdom teeth pulled and couldn't play for over a month
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jouko · Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 7:34 am Post subject:

Hi ,

I have found this to be a very good exercise:

"Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 21:02:16 -0400
From: Andre Jacques <ajacques1@home.com>
Subject: Re: [TPIN] Medical Advice Needed
Hi David,

Sorry to hear about your friend. When I studied with Roy Stevens, he told of a student of his who had had some nerve damage. One of Roy's exercises helped the man overcome this and regain strength.

He called it the pencil exercise.

Place a pencil between the teeth and slowly raise it to a horizontal position. This does a number of things. It gets the student to get used to holding an open teeth aperture, and it gets the student to bring his jaw out to support the mouthpiece more efficiently. Do not bite down in the pencil hard but just lightly steady it.

Next, without pulling back the corners, GENTLY bring the center of the lips toward you until they touch the pencil. Now GENTLY begin to exhale a Silent breath - not "blow" as this will cause tension in the lip muscles which is not associated with resisting the air. Do not allow the corners to move. Because the pencil is causing a teeth opening, the muscles in the lips and cheeks will have to slightly tighten to just stay still. That is the goal. As more and more air is exhaled, the muscles will tense that much more just to not move. Your friend should exhale ever so slightly. His mouth will shift because of the lack of muscle control in that top lip, but it will get stimulated.

The brain is a marvelous thing and hopefully it will figure out a way to reactivate these nerves and muscles. And his whole embouchure and cheeks will get a workout. I hope and pray that this will be helpful and that he will have a complete recovery.

Andre "

Kind Regards
Jouko Moilanen, Helsinki Finland

S3AN · Regular Member Joined: 09 Aug 2007 Posts: 35 Location: PA

This is a subject I brought up to my private teacher and after explaining it, he recommended the Caruso instead. I really like the caruso myself, and you're actually playing the trumpet. It has really helped my range and my tone, but whatever works for you works for you.[/i]
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