What are You Training with an Embouchure Trainer?

[JTeagarden]

I have a P.E.T.E. embouchure trainer, and I use it from time to time, but while I am confident I am using it correctly, I have always been at a loss as to what exactly it is I am training:

Increasing playing endurance;
Increasing strength in my corners;
Learning the feel of a proper embouchure?

Would be interested in knowing how, when, and how often you use such a trainer, what it does for you, and how and when you determine that it is "workng."

[Doug Elliott]

Increasing playing indurance;
No, that's not endurance training.

Increasing strength in my corners;
Probably, but it's also easy to train the wrong muscles with it.

Learning the feel of a proper embouchure?
Maybe but not likely. If you start with a good configuration and don't distort it, you MIGHT be doing it usefully.

[WilliamLang]

My embouchure trainer is my mouthpiece and trombone. Use it everyday, works pretty well, going by the results so far.

[harrisonreed]

I have always been at a loss as to what exactly it is I am training...

Unnecessary tension.

[AtomicClock]

I'm seeing huge benefits from my P.E.T.E. (though I wouldn't be surprised if a pencil is all I really need). As an amateur, I seem to spend all my practice time trying to get "back into shape", never accomplishing that, and never really satisfied with what I accomplish outside of the practice room either. No, I don't practice enough.

I started using it when I took a week off the horn over the Christmas holiday. I came back to the horn stronger than I left it. I've been using it nightly since then, and have never been in better shape. And I understand my corners more than I ever have before. I'm absolutely thrilled.

Flexibility has improved. Stamina has improved. I don't claim any higher range, but the high range I do have is much more secure and reliable. I'm enjoying practicing more. I *think* my tone has improved. If the tradeoff is "unnecessary tension", I'll take it in a heartbeat.

[AtomicClock]

Would be interested in knowing how, when, and how often you use such a trainer, what it does for you, and how and when you determine that it is "workng."

I use it before bed, when I'll probably have 20 hours to recover before I have to play again. I perform the exercise as hard as I can, for as long as I can hold "good form". For the "pencil" exercise, that is a minute or more. For the "button" exercise, it's maybe 5 or 10 seconds, but I can do it several times in a row.. Once I'm fatigued, I'll usually rest 10 minutes, then go again. For a while I was fooling around with a Gymboss timer, doing sets and reps. But I think that's too much.

One time, after doing the button exercise, my chops felt just like they do after a hard playing session. I always assumed the discomfort was due to excessive mouthpiece pressure on the soft lips. But there is nothing pressing there when using PETE. Anyway, that encouraged me to think I'm doing something right.

I do recognize myself using "firm corners" when playing a lot more than I used to. In my 12 years of private lessons, no teacher ever mentioned corners or embouchure mechanics. I learned about it afterward on the forums. By that point, I had settled into an effective playing style and didn't really know if my corners were properly firm or not. (For all I knew, I had naturally stumbled on proper mechanics, and that is why no teacher needed to mention it.) One of my goals with the PETE was to develop those muscles to the point where the body would subconsciously choose to use them when playing. I think that is happening. I feel like I am controlling a lot with the corners when before, not so much.

When I get fatigued while playing, I still feel the fatigue in the center of the lips, not the corners. I understand that is a sign of poor technique, and am keeping an eye on whether that changes, too.

[JTeagarden]

The only analogy I can come up with with respect to what an embouchure trainer might be doing is a long distance runner who cross trains by lifting weights: you can be a fine long distance runner and never touch a weight, but you will certainly add strength if you do some weight training.

This is the only analogy I can come up with that might explain what it’s doing, but it may or may not actually have this effect.

[Wayne]

This sort of training has been around for a while. Is this material that was rethought or abandoned by Reinhardt in later years?

The concept seems to be clear: a player needs to be able to hold a firm embouchure without the mouthpiece assisting that firmness.

[robcat2075]

Disappointed this is not something endorsed by Pete Barbutti