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Posted by: Eat-Sleep-andJam Sep 26 2009, 06:09 PM

Hey Guys.

OK! So here's the deal. I will be honest and say I never really ever thought about taking the time before practice to " Warm Up "

I always thought it was overrated and I just jumped into playing fast licks without warming up. The only times I ever really did it was I practice those boring and underrated 1-2-3-4 - 1-3-4-2 exercises and what not.

Today I actually started warming up for about 20 minutes.

And I must say. I do feel like its helping me improve more while playing. Who would have thought ? ( *Accepts the fact that I am an idiot * ) .


So I would just like to stress the fact that after not warming up for sometime, I started noticing Pains in both my hand and my elbows.

This might have just solved the problem .


Confession- Never Warmed Up.

Revelation- It actually helps.


Take this as word of advice!

Posted by: Sollesnes Sep 26 2009, 06:37 PM

Thats good to hear. I hope more people read this and experience the same as you

Posted by: Marcus Siepen Sep 27 2009, 07:35 PM

Well, of course it helps! Yes, it is boring, but there is a reason for doing all this, good to hear that you finally found out about the benefits

Posted by: djohnneay Sep 27 2009, 07:45 PM

I find it only necessary when I'm going to do a long practice session. When I'm only going to play for about half an hour, a warming up of 10 minutes is really not needed.

Posted by: Santiago Diaz Garces Sep 28 2009, 02:51 AM

It used to happen the same to me. I thought "This is so boring!!, I wanna play fast!!". But then, a few years later, understood why I have to warm up first. I had Tendinitis for a while. It's so annoying!!. So, try to always warm up before playing.

Posted by: slash48 Sep 28 2009, 02:57 AM

interesting, I always skipped to the fast licks too. I think I will try warming up. How exactly do you properly warm up though?

Posted by: Keilnoth Sep 28 2009, 07:18 AM

It's not necessarily boring. You can find some slow licks which are actually really improving your fingering. I am thinking about string skipping and finger synchronization.

For example, something like this :

... and start over again.

I like this one. I think i found it in Marcus's warp up lesson :



... continue to fret 24th.

And when you are warm, try it faster. I am currently using the warm up time to improve my playing above the 12th fret. And always use a metronome as Kris would say. You can really adapt your warm up with what you need to improve in your playing.

Forget about 1-2-3-4, it's boring.

Posted by: audiopaal Sep 28 2009, 07:41 AM

I usually never warm up before practice..
I do however warm up before recording or practicing with a band

Maybe I should warm up before practice too, thanks for sharing

Posted by: CathShadow Sep 28 2009, 07:47 AM

Yeah I use Marcus' Warm-up lessons... I also found that (aside from the benefit of warming up) it's REALLY good for finger synchronisation...

Posted by: Canis Sep 28 2009, 07:56 AM

I usually do the 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-3-4-5-6 and so on, on every strings as a "warm up"... I use the quote signs because said "warmups" usually take about 2-3 minutes, and could be more effective, I guess

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 28 2009, 12:21 PM

Good thing you found out about the benefits of it man, yes, warming up the hands really helps, otherwise muscles will be worn out more quickly. I warm up even before using the PC keyboard extensively, it really helps.

Posted by: Eat-Sleep-andJam Sep 28 2009, 12:36 PM

Yeah It really is important.

Posted by: Keilnoth Sep 28 2009, 01:20 PM

Me too, I check my Facebook, my Gmail, then I drink a coffee and talk with all my colleagues. It's 20 minutes warm up every morning so I don't get burned out by my work.

Posted by: Ctodd Sep 28 2009, 05:30 PM

I've never really thought about warming up, but part of my workout includes messing around for 5- 10 minutes, and then I start a drum loop at 70-80 BPM and work up from there. This is when I work on some faster rhythmic stuff.

Never really thought about it as "warming up" just part of my routine

Posted by: slash48 Feb 14 2010, 11:30 PM

If you ever get around to buying John Petruccie's Wild Stringdom, he has a billion fantastic warmups in the book.