How many of you warm up before playing ?

Rigsby

I have always been aware of the potential physical injuries ( as in CTS, tendinitis etc) a person can get, a result of playing an instrument. I always warm up by doing gentle stretches, and ( I play bass) slow chromatic scales. So far (touch wood !! ) I have been injury free.

I'd be interested to hear about your habits, good, bad, or otherwise, in this regard. If you do warm up, let us know the exercises you do.

JBnaglfar

Played drums for a good while without ever really doing warm-ups until I started to feel my wrists get sore while drumming. Learned some stretches and always do them now. No problems since then, and if anything my playing got a little better.

ham_n_mustard

im a bass player as well, playing nearly 20 years and i never warm up. i know i should and i also know the potential injuries, but the only time i've ever felt any pain was when i recently changed bass. i got my hands on a warwick thumb bass and found it so uncomfortable to play that i traded it soon afterwards.

Rigsby

ham_n_mustard wrote: »

im a bass player as well, playing nearly 20 years and i never warm up. i know i should and i also know the potential injuries, but the only time i've ever felt any pain was when i recently changed bass. i got my hands on a warwick thumb bass and found it so uncomfortable to play that i traded it soon afterwards.

You probably have good technique, and that is possibly a factor in why you are injury free.

I have heard the same comments elsewhere about the warwick thumb basses.

Malice

When I started playing first I rarely bothered with any sort of warm up. It wasn't until I got a dose of work-related RSI in 2004 that I realised how important it was. I was working on an assembly-line in a factory at the time and unsurprisingly, doing the same repetitive motions with my hands for hours a days caused me problems. It was one of those things that crept up on me. It was actually got so bad that I couldn't hold a guitar in my left hand because it hurt as soon as I curled my fingers.

These days unless I'm just rattling off a song or something I always try to warm up thoroughly. My routine goes a bit like this (I've no idea whether it's actually any good, I just find that it works for me):

1. Take out guitar/bass and tune it.
2. Starting on the lowest pitched string I run through a few arpeggio patterns. Stuff like this:

||--------------------2----------------------||
||-----------------2-----2-------------------||
||--------------4-----------4----------------||
||-----------5-----------------5-------------||
||-----2--5-----------------------5--2-------||
||--3-----------------------------------3----||

The above is for a six string bass and I'll start say on D and move up a fret or two each time. Then I'll go back down the neck. Then I play each note twice and go up and down the neck. I don't look to build up speed or anything like that, I'm just trying to sound each note cleanly and keep the same tempo as I go. It's a bit like doing a light jog before breaking out into a run.

After that I usually run through a few scales and, if necessary, some light stretching for my wrists:



I'm a computer programmer by trade so if I've had a busy day at work I'll often need to do a bit of stretching to loosen things up.

I think warm ups are a vital part of playing and I find it a bit disheartening that 5 out of 8 votes so far are not on the always side.

Gaspode

Always do lots of bending and stretching before a long gig. I tend to make sure I've played earlier in the day too to ensure there's no niggles there. I have a lot of aches & pains in my hands anyway, some from playing, some from work or gardening/DIY stuff, and some just from being old!
I try to warm up my vocal cords as well - best not to forget your voice box is an instrument too. Generally do this in the car on the way to the gig.

ham_n_mustard

Malice wrote: »

1. Take out guitar/bass and tune it.
2. Starting on the lowest pitched string I run through a few arpeggio patterns. Stuff like this:

||--------------------2----------------------||
||-----------------2-----2-------------------||
||--------------4-----------4----------------||
||-----------5-----------------5-------------||
||-----2--5-----------------------5--2-------||
||--3-----------------------------------3----||

i saw a billy sheehan dvd at one stage, he recommended something very like that:

---

1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2

---

3-4-5-6-7-6-5-4

---

---

1-2-3-4

---

5-4-3-2

---

3-4-5-6

---

7-6-5-4

---

---

1-2-3-4

---

5-4-3-2

---

3-4-5-6

---

7-6-5-4
---1-2-3-4

---

5-4-3-2-3-4-5-6

---

etc etc

lalee17

I voted 'never', however I'll try to keep in mind that i should be doing stretches.. Especially during long sessions. I never got any pain during playing though.

rcaz

Hmm... I warm up if I'm going to be playing for more than fifteen minutes, so before rehearsals or shows, if I'm noodling at home I usually don't. But then my warm up is just playing - I play some scales, tune, play some scales, re-tune, play some scales, re-tune, until my fingers - and strings - are warmed up. But I guess I should be warming up for playing, not by playing.

drumdrum

Always!

Before playing drums, I rotate my arms in wide swings both in towards my body and outwards. Rotate my hips, and rotate my ankles...Then I do some light wrist stretched and "shake em loose" before playing!
Probably overkill if I'm honest, but its a couple of routines I picked up from an oul karate instructor years ago and I find it just works for me....though I look like a yutz while doing it if I'm honest!

If playing guitar, piano, or bass, I do wrist stretches just for a minute.

If I'm practicing vocals I always warm up. I wouldn't say I'm the best singer anyways so the way I see it I can't afford NOT to warm up in case I strain something. I sing coz its fun though....I do enjoy though it even if the neighbours don't! :pac:

Malice

ham_n_mustard wrote: »

i saw a billy sheehan dvd at one stage, he recommended something very like that:

That looks like a straighforward chromatic pattern which can work as well, I'm just not a fan of them myself .

Rigsby

Malice wrote: »

I think warm ups are a vital part of playing and I find it a bit disheartening that 5 out of 8 votes so far are not on the always side.

I agree. Apart from mere curiosity to see how many actually warmed up, the other reason I started this thread was to try to bring to people's attention, just how important it is. I too, was kind of expecting more on the "always" side.

Rigsby

El Pr0n wrote: »

But I guess I should be warming up for playing, not by playing.

The ideal thing is to do a little of both. You could start by doing some wrist and finger stretches as in these links :


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwdsKXY8jz8




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0LN4pjZ7IM&feature=related


When I have finished with the stretches, I then take up the bass (in my case), and do slow chromatic or major scales for about five minutes. I then consider myself ready for a playing/practice session.

Rigsby

There is one more thing I would like to draw people's attention to ( or away from actually ), is in gadgets like "grip master". I'm sure they have their uses elsewhere, but playing bass, guitar or piano etc is not among them. Why ? The strength and dexterity needed to fret a string or play piano, is the opposite to that needed to grip. To put it another way, it is in the lifting of the fingers off the frets to go to another note, without them getting in each other's way, that is important. There is little strength required here, but lots of dexterity, independence, and stamina, which is a completely different thing altogether.

Malice

But there are ones aimed specifically at guitar players with individual sections to push down per finger. As in something like this would be okay:


But this wouldn't:

Rigsby

Malice wrote: »

But there are ones aimed specifically at guitar players with individual sections to push down per finger.

IMO, neither of those grips are useful from a playing aspect. As I was saying in my other post, there is minimal strength required to fret a string. This strength is there naturally is every healthy adult. It is in the lifting of the fingers off of the frets as opposed to the pushing down onto the frets, that a person needs to concentrate on. The only reason I can think of where one of these gadgets might be useful, is as a kind of physiotherapy, where the hand is weak to begin with, possibly through an accident etc. Even then, it would not be advisable to use it for any longer than is needed to get the hand back to it's natural strength. The best way to train the hands and fingers to play the guitar is...play the guitar.

Bottom line...save your money.

skazztenor

I play tenor sax and my husband plays trumpet...we always play for an hour at least before a gig....usually during the day if the gig is at night.(unless we are on a string of gigs over a few days..then we are usually all tuned in and fit anyway) Firstly to check everything is ok with the instrument (!) then tone, intonation, fingers, valves, etc. Depending on mood we may do scales or just jam against the chords of a song...doesnt seem to matter as long as we are warmed up ):)

Rigsby

skazztenor wrote: »

Depending on mood we may do scales or just jam against the chords of a song...doesnt seem to matter as long as we are warmed up ):)

Yeah, I think problems arise when people dive headlong into fast and complex playing, right from the start. This is a recipe for disaster. Everyone has their own way of warming up. The main point is to give the body time to adjust to the task being asked of it. It only takes about ten minutes. Time well spent IMO.

tom thum

i cycle to all my gigs.:D:D

Rigsby

tom thum wrote: »

i cycle to all my gigs.:D:D

Yes. Exercises including the cycle of 4ths/5ths would be considered the norm.

Malice

Rigsby wrote: »

IMO, neither of those grips are useful from a playing aspect. As I was saying in my other post, there is minimal strength required to fret a string. This strength is there naturally is every healthy adult. It is in the lifting of the fingers off of the frets as opposed to the pushing down onto the frets, that a person needs to concentrate on. The only reason I can think of where one of these gadgets might be useful, is as a kind of physiotherapy, where the hand is weak to begin with, possibly through an accident etc. Even then, it would not be advisable to use it for any longer than is needed to get the hand back to it's natural strength. The best way to train the hands and fingers to play the guitar is...play the guitar.

Bottom line...save your money.

I'm not sure I agree but I see your point. When I went back playing after my bout of RSI, the first thing I focused on was not holding the guitar in a death grip. The key is to only exert as much pressure as is needed to fret the note and no more. I used to hold the strings down far harder than necessary which of course contributed to the pain that I felt.

Rigsby

Malice wrote: »

I'm not sure I agree but I see your point. When I went back playing after my bout of RSI, the first thing I focused on was not holding the guitar in a death grip. The key is to only exert as much pressure as is needed to fret the note and no more. I used to hold the strings down far harder than necessary which of course contributed to the pain that I felt.

Well, it is very easy to gauge for yourself, just how much strength is needed to fret. It is very easy to get a good clear note by fretting without putting the thumb on the back of the neck. You will then see just how small is the amount of strength required. So why would people need to go building up unrequired strength with these gadgets, when really what needs attention is agility, independence, and stamina, which are different things altogether.

Your story of the "death grip" is a common one among bassists especially. Because of the bigger strings, people think you need lots of strength to fret.