Lip training

The first months on the alphorn are for beginners mainly a struggle with the lips. After just a few minutes of playing the alphorn, the muscles go slack – then it just croaks, high notes no longer come and the lips hurt. The usual advice is “be patient, it will come in time, just don’t push it…”. That may be. But isn’t there a shortcut? What was that again about bodybuilding for the lips?

If you do some research on lip training, you will find various exercises and training devices. The focus is on strengthening the lip ring muscle. There are three tasks for this:

• Pressing the lips together – possibly around a round core: mostly such exercises are done exploratively (also in front of a mirror); as a training device you can buy the Lipmaster by Markus Arnold.
• Holding back a thin object with the lips: the easiest way is to hold a pencil with the lips and pull on it with the fingers. Training devices such as the Jericho lip expander (recommended by Malte Burba), lip dumbbells, and the Warburton P.E.T. E. (or the Chinese copies) are based on this principle.
• Hold an object horizontally: in the classic version, you simply hold a spoon between your lips; more sophisticated is the Vario Liptrainer with adjustable weight / lever arm.

For effective muscle building, follow the rules of bodybuilding: several series, training until exhaustion, recovery (one day rest). It is also important to always combine strength with flexibility exercises – otherwise your embouchure will get stiff. As in sports, strength training should only be part of a balanced training plan. If you train systematically like this, you will undoubtedly strengthen your lip ring muscle.

But does it really do any good for the alphorn? Opinions differ on this. In the non-representative survey in my alphorn environment, the skeptics predominate. In fact, I know some alphorn players who tried lip bodybuilding in their career, but hardly anyone practiced it systematically and successfully over a longer period. The main criticism is: strength in the lips is only one (subordinate) aspect of a good embouchure; more important is the improvement of coordination and fine motor skills. As we work on it, our muscles develop on their own.

I have also come to believe that traditional lip trainers work the wrong muscle groups. To create lip tension for the embouchure, three forces interact: (1) compression by contraction of the lip ring muscle, (2) counterpressure by snuggling “into the mouthpiece” and pushing it away from your teeth, and (3) tightening of the tissue by pulling the lips apart (see, for example, the explanation in Lesson 4 of the Basic Course on this website). Conventional lip trainers all fixate on (1) – contraction. But is this really the weakest link? Isn’t this muscle already exercised in daily use (eating, pouting…)? In practice, exhausted lips manifest themselves differently: we no longer manage to maintain a counterpressure into the mouthpiece. At this moment of surrender, we can only maintain lip tension by squeezing – the lips are then crushed between the teeth and the mouthpiece. So, in the sense of a solid embouchure, the goal is to improve forces (2) and (3).

For a good explanation of this philosophy, referring to the “away from the teeth” and “lip tips apart”, see Adam Rapa’s video here:

My first anecdotal experiences in self-experimentation and with individual students are positive: in a short time, stamina improved and – above all – the ability to form a stable airtight connection between lips and mouthpiece. Whether this is actually the result of muscle building, or whether exercise has improved fine motor skills, scientific studies will have to show…. Until their publication, I take pre-orders for the luxury version of the Alphornbankster Lip Trainer – special price for you only 69.95!