Warburton P.E.T.E. Brasswind Silver

The P.E.T.E. is a handy little tool, designed to strengthen the muscles of the embouchure. There are two exercises that the item is designed for, but no doubt others will be developed.

The item itself is very well manufactured; the silver plate is flawless, and it's very comfortable to use. It's also very easy to overdo the exercises, and Warburton do make this point themselves on their instructional videos. A little definitely goes a long way with this product.

I find this to be a very valuable tool for keeping the muscles of the embouchure strong when I have an enforced absence from the horn, such as on long business trips. However, it's not a substitute for practice, and I prefer not to use it as a supplement to practice either, as it's so easy to overdo. This is user error, however, and not a design flaw.

Excellent servcie from Thomann's as usual. Very quick despatch and packaging. I would certainly recommend them with hesitation. The PETE itself hasn't really worked for me. I find there is not enough guidance on its use so I think when I started to use it I maybe overdid it. Some exercises progressive use to build the embouchure would have been most helpful. I have returned to playing my cornet after 30 years and am now on the wrong side of 60 so my embouchure muscles are not great. I was a bit disappointed to be honest as the PETE received such rave reviews. Maybe the sensible thing would be to contact Warburton's for advice.

Having read about the P.E.T.E and the effects others felt with it, I felt compelled to give it a go.

The quality is excellent and its comfortable to hold, comes with clear instructions on the different methods that can be used....

... but the big question is, does it work?

In short - Yes, with certain proviso's.

1) This is not a substitute for regular practice.
2) It's possible to over-use it and leave your lip muscles feeling overly stiff the following day (with undesirable effects on your playing) - there's a fine line between doing good and over-doing it.
3) It's not a good idea to use before practice. In the evening (in front of the TV, for example) when it's not going to impact on your days playing, however, does yield some positive effects.

There's no substitute for proper practice, but these exercizes compliment it nicely.

This is just a must-have trainer for every brass player.
I use this almost every day in my car while driving to work. I admit, I get some strange looks when cars pass in a traffic jam, but I do not mind because this tool is helping me in getting a stronger enbouchure, more overall endurance and even a greater reach in my upper register.

This tool does not replace regular exercise, flexibility exercises and long notes, but it really helps me with time management.

I do not care a lot about all those different trainers, but this one always goed with me when I leave the house.

Thanks Thomann for the great service (as usual)

Kind regards,
Kurt