I don't really warm up, or rather, warm up in the traditional sense of doing exercises, I just start playing easy stuff or just chill jamming until my fingers stop being cold lol

^Like da man said.

Some more details (sorry, don't have any tabs to recommend in particular as warm ups I use): you can warm up while improving other things-> practicing at slow tempo some hard passages, good way to revise this or that from time to time; improvisation will help develop your sense of location on the guitar and your musicality/ear; revising your scales would do the same as the previous), so don't just consider 'warming up them muscles' as being the only benefit.

The only exercise I tend to do when I feel like it is chromatics, but I personally don't get bored of them which is why I never disliked this exercise. Make your own variations when you get sick of one, etc.

Warm up on acoustic first -> what I tend to do even if I plan on practicing an electric guitar riff later. You feel much more at ease and ready to tackle something when switching from ac to el, so it's quite useful imo. The rest worked for both instruments, fingerstyle/pick, doesn't matter. Can always consider if you're planning on working seriously that day on a perticular thing, then instead of warming up with another technique, work on that for a head start.

Don't play something that strains you right away, dem ligaments will fuck you up in return. Don't be paranoid though, although some people can wound them easier than others, you can always tell in advance. but instead of being warmed up you'd rather take a break then for a while 1:

Hakoria said

^Like da man said.

Some more details (sorry, don't have any tabs to recommend in particular as warm ups I use): you can warm up while improving other things-> practicing at slow tempo some hard passages, good way to revise this or that from time to time; improvisation will help develop your sense of location on the guitar and your musicality/ear; revising your scales would do the same as the previous), so don't just consider 'warming up them muscles' as being the only benefit. The only exercise I tend to do when I feel like it is chromatics, but I personally don't get bored of them which is why I never disliked this exercise. Make your own variations when you get sick of one, etc.

Warm up on acoustic first -> what I tend to do even if I plan on practicing an electric guitar riff later. You feel much more at ease and ready to tackle something when switching from ac to el, so it's quite useful imo. The rest worked for both instruments, fingerstyle/pick, doesn't matter. Can always consider if you're planning on working seriously that day on a perticular thing, then instead of warming up with another technique, work on that for a head start.

Don't play something that strains you right away, dem ligaments will fuck you up in return. Don't be paranoid though, although some people can wound them easier than others, you can always tell in advance. but instead of being warmed up you'd rather take a break then for a while 1:

^Like dat legendary Laon said. Definetly never try to play something very demanding beyond a speed which you're not really comfortable at right away. No Pain,No Gain is not a doctrine for guitar lol, and one very common to adopt by people who start the transition of casual to serious practice.

Yar, only pain should be when starting out with beginner fingertips. Ah man, those were the days, having to stop simply because holding a note would burn.

Ah and another note: also think of your wrists, not just your fingers/palms. I had taken a 1 to 2 years break from guitar and got back into playing/practicing again last month: after 30 minutes I finally let the neck go and my wrist started hurting like a bitch out of nowhere. Afterwards I'd always give it some more attention and it went better, but yeah since I never had that with piano it scarred my childhood (besides when overpracticing, but I could tell immediately that it's time to take a break, didn't come out of nowhere).

musenji said

For the more serious fingerstyle or electric guitarists, how do you warm up before practicing? If you do both, do you have a different routine for each style?

I do the warm ups from the John petrucci DVD. That are really good.

It depends what I'm practicing really but 90% of my warm up time consists of playing slower, more melodic things (classical style) that I've been trying to learn. I try to get through a slow and beautiful song (fingerstyle, but really hybrid picking) without making mistakes. I mean I'll play it really super slow as my warm up.

When I was trying to boost my shredding clarity I remember practicing an excerpt from Jason Becker's Altitudes. I'd play the sweep picking part in the beginning very slowly, over and over. After a short while my hands were warmed up, for shredding or for classical, just warmed up in general!

Actually finding very slow and beautiful songs to use as a warm up is a good idea to break away from exercises if you get burnt out. This website has been helping me in that area tremedously!

Warm up.

1. Stretch fingers and arms. Rotate wrist and warm up muscles.

2. With guitar I do 2 warm up patterns. 1 helps fingers and second warms up picking hand.

( GP tab is somewhere)

3. Warm up doing scale runs like 4 notes a beat and such with a metronome for a few mins.

4. Warm up sweeping hand in the same nature.

Once I get that done I play parts of songs to break away from the robot mindset and study whatever I need to.

I found out that doing this, I get much more out of my practice time and dont find myself as frustrated with my playing.

^good point with arms, forgot that. If you want you can also add shoulders, I just kept that habit from piano (never did it when I only played guitar) due to the importance of keeping them relaxed as it helps for the arms/hands.

Speedfreak said

Jason Becker's Altitudes.

Godly.

Remembered reading that his als case has been slightly improved around the last 2 years. Slowly but hopefully things are looking better.

I use Govan's "Waves" lately. so good 1:

Thanks all for the input so far!

When I was in college, I would actually go for a run before playing (though that was just because it was always the first thing I did in the morning), and then I would do a chromatic scale up and down the top string, and run through a set of five etudes that were relatively easy.

However, I did not, and still do not, pay nearly enough attention to the way my hands feel at any given moment. I believe it seriously hampers my practice. When I am warmed up, I am likely to learn much more quickly, and I simply enjoy the FEELING of my hands being warm.

Wrists are a major concern for me, as well--in fact my primary concern. I am going to start doing gentle stretches as often as I can remember them.

@SJ: Do a waves improv that's more beautiful than guitaryman's. Time limit is until you die, make us proud.

@mu: for references, I'd stretch my wrists/fingers/elbows a couple of times per hour in class the last years or when walking home/to the conservatory/outside, probably not necessary so much but good way to occupy yourself (I never do it excessively thus never hurt myself). I personally don't think people need to be weirded out when they see someone stretch those limbs while walking outside although it can happen (pay it no mind, just shows that they either can't reason properly or are close-minded. Unless you're good-willed and want to make them smarter by explaining? iunnololup2you). I think it's a good habit to get into, if you pull it off daily for a week or two it'll start becoming automatic.

And you do learn more quickly when you have that feel of ease while being warmed up imo, that's why I have the habit of always warming up on acoustic even if I practice electric next. Do it.

musenji said

Thanks all for the input so far!

When I was in college, I would actually go for a run before playing (though that was just because it was always the first thing I did in the morning), and then I would do a chromatic scale up and down the top string, and run through a set of five etudes that were relatively easy.

However, I did not, and still do not, pay nearly enough attention to the way my hands feel at any given moment. I believe it seriously hampers my practice. When I am warmed up, I am likely to learn much more quickly, and I simply enjoy the FEELING of my hands being warm.

Wrists are a major concern for me, as well--in fact my primary concern. I am going to start doing gentle stretches as often as I can remember them.

I hope you showered after running before you played eughhh :P.

Be like Eddie Van Halen and warm up playing Eruption.

I might have that backwards...played first then ran. It was quite a long time ago.

karathrow said

musenji said

Thanks all for the input so far!

When I was in college, I would actually go for a run before playing (though that was just because it was always the first thing I did in the morning), and then I would do a chromatic scale up and down the top string, and run through a set of five etudes that were relatively easy.

However, I did not, and still do not, pay nearly enough attention to the way my hands feel at any given moment. I believe it seriously hampers my practice. When I am warmed up, I am likely to learn much more quickly, and I simply enjoy the FEELING of my hands being warm.

Wrists are a major concern for me, as well--in fact my primary concern. I am going to start doing gentle stretches as often as I can remember them.

I hope you showered after running before you played eughhh :P.

It's great that you have a warm-up routine, and paying attention to the way your hands feel is definitely important for efficient and effective practice. As for wrist concerns, gentle stretches can certainly help prevent injury. It's also important to make sure that you're using proper technique and not straining your wrists in any way during practice. You may want to consider seeking guidance from a professional instructor or physical therapist to ensure that you're playing with good form and not putting undue strain on your wrists. Best of luck in your practice and warm-up routines!