What do I begin my practice with today?

[16251]

I ponder this question everyday. Sometimes I don't even know until I start playing.  

[JamPro]

I begin my practice day with some light finger exercises and some scales.  I want to get my fingers, hands, and arms warmed up before tackling the more involved classical pieces and improvs that make up most of my practice time.

[nadroj]

Wil Blades (killer Hammond organist) said in his patreon that he does scales/warm up stuff three times a week. He doesn’t do them every day. 
 

I’ve taken that approach and I must say it’s been revolutionary. I used to feel I couldn’t practice until I’d “warmed up”, but then 30 precious minutes would have passed and I wouldn’t have actually played any music.

 

So if I’m not on a scales/technique day, I’ll just start with whatever’s in my head, get it out of my system (or build on it) then start working on whatever I want to work on. 

[Redknife]

I’m with you on the lay the hands and see where it goes. Intermittent scales/exercises- usually in odd time signatures and definitely not the key of C. Sometimes I’ll play along with a new song.
I’ve been watching a lot of Edna Taubman and her protégé’s videos. Rather than viewing playing the piano as a sport, Taubman emphasizes that hands are made to move and work all day. Taubman takes exception to the phrase “build your endurance” as she says there should be no need to endure playing the piano. The methods emphasis on employing subtle anatomic motions keeping the hand and forearm relationship largely neutral (without abduction or addiction of the wrist). So lately, I’ve been “warming up” with some basic forearm motions playing lines or chords to try to solidify the method. Maybe I’ll run through a bunch of types of moves highlighted by Taubman- like a powerful chord down to a subtle lines. I move at the wrist (adduct or abduct) far too much which yields pain. Having the wrist in odd positions relative to the forearm puts unnecessary stretch in the tendons crossing the wrist as well as increased stress on surrounding tissues. If I feel tension or pain when warming up, I stop and focus on relaxation, do some simple motions correctly and once I feel relaxed I start again. 
 

now, what should I start with today…

 

 

[Docbop]

Something many musicians say is make a practice plan for the day.   Some do it in morning while having caffeine du jour and waking up.   Some create  basic plan they do daily then add whatever they need to.   The basic warmup of scales and such should get your hands warmed up and bain into practice mode.    As one of my favorite teacher in music school said...   the hardest thing about practicing is getting started.     I use to like it was me that had trouble starting, but hearing my teacher and many in the class agree I knew it was a common issue.    So just have something you always start with daily and if possible a set time it just all about getting started everyday.   

[Dave Ferris]

Whatever it is, go slow and ease into it. Injuries from any technical work, classical or jazz, most often occur when cold and not warmed up.

 

Same applies to working on lines, chord voicings and tunes. It can take awhile for everything to be in sync, especially the older we get. For jazz, I like to start slow so I can visualize the changes of a tune very clearly before trying to play anything at faster tempos. I often play transitional  passages, like key changes, out of time before I put everything together.

 

Many years ago I sat in a recording session where my friend, Vibist Jon Nagourney, had hired Kenny Barron for his CD.

 

Kenny came into the studio, gave his cordial greetings to everyone and went straight to the piano and began playing what I call the second section of Joe Henderson's "Inner Urge" at a very slow tempo. This is the EMaj. 7 +11 | DbMaj.7 +11 | D Maj.7 +11 | B Maj.7+11| etc. section. He would stop and play a line out of tempo, or very slowly to connect the chords in that Maj.7+11 Lydian sequence.

 

Within ten minutes he was playing that section up to speed. He took a break, they got some levels for another 15 minutes and started recording. It was definitely enlightening.

 

The brain, ears and fingers all need to be working as one. Sometimes it can take me a solid hour before I feel like I'm in sync. On the other hand, some days I sit down and the stuff just flows out seemingly endlessly and effortlessly from the get go.

[jazzpiano88]

I walk up to my C7 at 7am and start with working the octave bass and gospel chords using this to wake up the household (including startling the cat).   Don't ask me why I'm currently homeless 😂:

 

 

[rickzjamm]

SATB from the church hymnals is always a good warm up. Russell Ferrante has some four part exercise that are great!!!!

 

[JoJoB3]

I'm transcribing Danny Gatton cuts and making charts. It's fun.