pencil exercise

To Embouchure Hell and Back: One Trumpeter’s Experience with Pops McLaughlin’s 10-Week Pencil Exercise eBook, “Chops Builder.”

If you are interested in trying Pops’ pencil exercise program for yourself, be sure to read the full article. As I progressed, along with tracking the specifics of what and when I did each “workout,” I also logged and vented mainly the negative consequences of adding the exercise to my normal playing schedule. Skimming this article may give you the wrong idea. 

What you spend your time on is up to you. When it comes to the pencil exercise; not all people need to do it, not all people want to do it, and some people think it’s complete and total bullshit. That’s fine. My experience with isometrics is that while there can be a definite, initial downside, in the long-term, supplemental isometrics continue to be have a positive effect on my embouchure and trumpet playing.

One more thing. This article is really long. Too long. Way too long. So If you’re not seriously curious about some dude’s rationale, training experience and the horrible, horrible mistakes he made working the muscles of his mouth with a pencil, just move along.

Along with the whys, whats and future plans, I’ve also included some suggestions at the end of the article for how you might work isometrics into your routine if you feel like.

*NEW* “FreeTB” Aperture Control Course Available!

Hey everybody – Just launched a new “FreeTB” course on learning to better control the aperture. This is a topic that’s gathered a lot of interest and has really helped to level-up my playing game. I think you’ll find a lot in the series if that’s what you’re into.

Here’s a screenshot of one of the videos.

iso-snip

The nine-part series dives head-first into the following aspects of aperture control: …