The Pencil Exercise – Trick or Treat?

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One thing that I like about trumpet forums is their open-mindedness when it comes to trying out new things. Whereas some in the French horn world are ensconced in tradition, trumpets players always seem be looking for a new way to improve playing.

On the flip side, this open-mindedness does allow for occasional quackery and bad advice.

One controversial exercise technique that I had once discarded long ago is getting a second look – the so-called pencil exercise. After talking about it with several trumpet-playing colleagues, I am becoming more convinced that there may be something to it.

In a nutshell, it involves holding the eraser end of a pencil with the lips only. It is basically an isometric exercise that works the embouchure muscles in a held, static position.

I am told that the technique may have evolved from musicians enlisted in the military looking for a way to keep their chops in shape during basic training. From the trombone.org site, an article on Dr. Donald S. Reinhardt describes it as follows:

The Pencil Trick Routine has been recommended by many brass teachers since Reinhardt first wrote of it in 1942. Using a standard, unsharpened wooden pencil, form your embouchure as if to buzz while saturated with saliva.

Place the tip of either end of the pencil just between your compressed lips at the point of where your embouchure aperture forms during normal playing, never between your teeth. Using the compression of the lips alone, hold the pencil straight out for as long as possible without strain, usually only a few seconds at first. Gradually extend the amount of time you can hold the pencil straight out before dropping.

Some players will even add weights to the end of their pencils or use weighted metal bars for additional strength training.

Other tricks and treats

Within a regimen of exercises away from the horn –breathing, lip buzzing and mouthpiece buzzing — I am trying this out. Not that I am looking for “screamer” chops, but I found Bruce’s Screamer Club Exercises interesting.

For some students I have used the yoga lion pose as both an ice breaker and as a way to relieve stress.

Have you had any experience with the pencil exercise or other facial muscle exercises that are done away from the horn? Please share your comments and observations below.