pinkjimiphoton Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 how do you guys warm up? just curious... when i can, i tend to play modes in 9ths* up and down thru three octaves starting on e, then work up to g at the 15th fret or so, then come down with pentatonics til i get back to half position e. the 9ths sound a little more musical to me than just normal scales, i nicked the idea from my sister (who is one hellacious trumpeter)..seems to warm my hands up nice, especially my ring and pinky fingers. if i do it a couple hours (hell, even a couple days) before a show, it really seems to make a difference. so.. what's your personal ritual for this stuff? * when i say 9ths, i mean like this... 1,2,3,4,5,6, 7, 8, 9, 8, 7,6,5,4,3,2,1 then 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2 then 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3 etc etc...i think you see where this is going...all the way til i hit the octave. then up a half step and do the same thing, all the way up the neck.... http://www.sweetrelief.org/ https://www.wepay.com/donations/memorial-stone-for-juliane-pocius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larryz Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I'm too old to warm up, so I just pick up my guitar and see what comes out...then I just go where it takes me...no such thing as a dumb question...can't say the same for my lame answer though... Take care, Larryz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russclan Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 If I'm going to be playing songs, I usually just do the ol' 1234 on each string, moving up one fret at a time to the 12th, then back down...then repeat a few times til I've built up to a fairly quick tempo without tons of clams. Then its on to working on the song(s). If it's a strict practice session, I get a little more complex. I start w/the 1234 thing. Then it's modes in sweep (3nps) fashion (usually in A) going low to high followed by high to low. After that I do various alternate picking/string skipping things. I actually used to be pretty stringent with this stuff, but nowadays not so much. Naturally, because of this, I'm not as fast as I used to be. I might do 20-30 minutes, tops, and not nearly as often as I should. I do a lot of farting around these days, lol. Ya know, I really should try and get back into a strict regimen... My ears are haunted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d halfnote Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I do several types of exercises at diff times. Every morning, before I do any other playing, I take some time to clear my mind & simply allow whatever occurs to me to come out on an instrument. That's creative warm up. Everything else is either aimed at working on a particular thing---an area that seems to need development, improving playing of a musical segment, analyzing the theory or note selection of a piece of music or such things. That's problem solving. Very seldom do I still do the most basic thing of playing through scales or chord positions but when I do I don't concentrate on speed or anything. That's a good thing to practice & is worth pursuing but can become the only approach some take. What I do instead is based on some exercises I learned from an article by Matt Blankett. Play lines & chords using different fingers (leave out yer index finger, for instance); it's a great way to enhance yer fingering facility, even if you don't actually use the found chord forms---& you might find some that you will use ! Also drawn from the same article is this idea: when you warm up, start at the high end of the fretboard rather than the headstock end & work yer way down the neck. Here's why: the higher end allows you to gradually stretch yer fingers instead of starting with the widest stretch. So simple but something most of us don't recognize by ourselves ! Finally---or first of all --- do the actual basic warm up of making sure yer hands are in fact warm rather than cold (backstage at some places is chilly) & stretch/wiggle yer fingers before actually starting to play. d=halfnote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkjimiphoton Posted May 4, 2011 Author Share Posted May 4, 2011 interesting replies, guys, thank you! i only warm up occaisionally...i LIKE to do it before a show, but most of the time i have to go in cold. and for some bizzarre reason, i seem to play better on the gig if i haven't touched a guitar in a few days...tho it takes me close to a set to really get loose... unless gulping copius quantities of chocolate and a few shots of 1800 and a doobie or two...that will have me loose quick. the chocolate especially!!! lol.. http://www.sweetrelief.org/ https://www.wepay.com/donations/memorial-stone-for-juliane-pocius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvuksanovich Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 My warmup routine always changes depending on what I've been working on recently. I don't do a lot of agility/speed stuff when warming up, though. Recently I've been warming up really slowly, just getting a feel for fretting notes with each finger and picking single notes with both down and upstrokes. That tends to calm me down before going onstage more than a 1234 type routine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Electric Biscuit Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I do the same stretching routine that I do for rock climbing, if I will be playing for a while. I don't usually run any scales or anything. real men just jam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEHpicker Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I like to do a simple stretch of the fingers on my fretting hand and then go through my own set of scales that spreads the work fairly evenly across all four fingers. I do this for about 15 minutes before we play a gig. Another thing that a friend turned me onto and works exceptionally well is to run warm/hot water over your fretting hand for several minutes. This is very effective for just loosening up all the little muscles and tendons in your hand... especially for us older guys. SEHpicker The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it." George Orwell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d halfnote Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 ...and for some bizzarre reason, i seem to play better on the gig if i haven't touched a guitar in a few days... It could be diff for all of us but I think I know the reason for this psychological effect. In that down time one has unconsciously generated some new ideas + there's the excitement of playing again. It's like when one feels they've played out all their ideas in a given format but then, after taking some time off, there's something new that shows up. d=halfnote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEHpicker Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 ...and for some bizzarre reason, i seem to play better on the gig if i haven't touched a guitar in a few days... It could be diff for all of us but I think I know the reason for this psychological effect. In that down time one has unconsciously generated some new ideas + there's the excitement of playing again. It's like when one feels they've played out all their ideas in a given format but then, after taking some time off, there's something new that shows up. Very true. If I take a few days off from playing - and especially if I've really been playing alot - and then just wait for that moment when I really feel the urge to play, magic can happen. SEHpicker The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it." George Orwell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrell Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 It depends on how cold it is... First thing I do is make sure my hand is warm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picker Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Saying that I warmed up might imply that my playing got somehow warmer than room temperature, which would probably be unfounded braggadocio on my part... Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d halfnote Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Unfounded braggadocio = the spirit of rock & roll... d=halfnote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caevan O’Shite Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Gotta say, pjp, I don't see anything dumb about your question? Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do? ~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~ _ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terrell Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 Yeah it's a totally valid question! I used to rehearse in this warehouse space with no A/C or Heat or insulation. I actually quit that band because they wanted to rehearse constantly, it was on the other side of Houston and it actually hurt to play there in the winter. If it hurts, you should stop immediately! I'm afraid I'll have arthritis soon because of that kind of sensitivity. Not that the band caused it, but because it hurt so bad and I think my tolerance for pain is high but my pain relative to others was also high. Warming up is the best way to avoid injury to the tiny little muscles you are using. AND Without it, you can't wrench the tone from your hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkjimiphoton Posted May 5, 2011 Author Share Posted May 5, 2011 actually, i guess my real warmup is putting out my cigarette... http://www.sweetrelief.org/ https://www.wepay.com/donations/memorial-stone-for-juliane-pocius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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