One thing I am always going on about during lessons is that a warm up is an integral part of your practice. Before you do any sport you do stretches and a warm-up right? Well, the exact same thing applies to the guitar. Plus all the warm-up exercises will help you play better than ever.
Sounds good huh? Let’s get into it.
If you are able to run a number of these exercises in this excellent article for 5-10 minutes before you start practicing, go play a gig etc – you will play better. Your hand and mind will be ready to rock.
The article features a number of my favourite warm up routines and has introduced me to a couple of new ones – I love numbers 6 and 11!
The best way to run these exercises is like this –
1. First practice what you have to do in free time – get the idea of the exercise and what it is trying to get you to do.
2. Set your metronome at a tempo where you can comfortably do the exercise. No metronome? Try this YouTube drummer…
3. Right. Now it is time to move on up. Increase the tempo of your metronome and see how you go. You have to be honest with yourself here! Did you get 90% of the notes right? That’s great. Increase the tempo. It should feel challenging!
4. If you made a few too many mistakes, repeat. More than a few too many? Decrease the tempo and have another go. You will get it – once you have, move the tempo back up.
So that is it. Enjoy these exercises – remember in addition to the burgers, pizzas and fries, you still need to eat your vegetables.
Yes, warm ups are the vegetables of the guitar playing world. Beetroot? Brussel Sprouts? Cabbage?
Anyway, I’m off to do some more exercises.
Cheers
Simon
Source: Warm-Up Time: 11 Exercises That Will Help You Play Even Better – GuitarPlayer.com