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Warming Up
Posted on October 4, 2011 by Julie in PracticingI am a very strong believer in warming up before you start practicing. I love warming up! A good warm up routine will help you get set up for the day and get rid of mistakes caused by slow fingers, lips that aren’t ready for big jumps and poor intonation, as well as many other benefits.
No matter what your level of playing, you can have a warm up routine. And, your routine will change as you improve and increase your practice time.
Here is a sample routine for an intermediate student (10 minutes):
- Tone exercises – Long tones, with a tuner (3 minutes)
- Scales (2 minutes)
- Tonguing (2 minutes) this is your opportunity to work on double tonguing and clear attacks on notes
- Wild Card (3 minutes) spend this time on something that you are working on in your lesson – dynamics, vibrato, breathing, improv and ear training, etc.
Now you are ready to play your music… but WAIT… before you start practicing your music for the day, take a minute to stretch, and warm up your body to get ready to play. This will help prevent injury and give you a chance to mentally prepare for the work ahead!Some great body warm ups:
- Large arm circles
- Neck stretch
- Touch your toes or Down Dog (yoga)
- Stretch your arms
- Breathing – in through your nose for 4 counts, out through your mouth for 8
Now go ahead and get out your music, you are ready to start practicing!!
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