Warming Up- An Essential Part of Your Daily Routine
If you are not warming up, you should start TODAY! You are missing out on a chance to calibrate your hands and brain in order to play with more efficiency and fluidity. Try a couple of these warm up ideas..
Stretches- Stretch out your neck, arms, hands, wrists, and fingers. This usually takes around 2-4 minutes so it’s super easy to do without a guitar.
Play slow and deliberate- no crazy movements and keep it simple at first.
Chords with no index finger- this is a good one—just play the chords you want but DO NOT use your index finger. This proves very tricky and causes your brain to engage more before you start your main practice.
The Petrucci Warmup- This is a great warmup that John Petrucci uses in his epic instructional video, Rock Discipline, usually can be found on YouTube and is very helpful.
The Batio Warmup- Michael Angelo Batio uses this exercise before every practice and every performance. He says this warmup has been in his routine for over 30 years and his playing is phenomenal.
No matter which approach you use, make sure to do these every single day so you can keep your hands and your brain in the best playing shape possible. The worst thing you can do is injure yourself causing days and even months of no playing! Don’t do that!