Warming Up on Guitar: What Works Best?

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Phil McNeal
Warming Up on Guitar: What Works Best?

How Should I Warm Up?
When it comes to warming up, guitarists have a seemingly infinite variety of opinions--virtually every guitarist has a unique set of practices aimed at loosening up the fingers and wrists. Below, two very different Lessonface guitar teachers (Duane Denison and Leah Kruszewski) share their warm-up routines. Check out the video and links below, then read on for discussion.


Warm-Up Exercises from Duane Denison:


Warm-Up Exercises from Leah Kruszewski (featured on the Lessonface blog in two parts):
Part 1: https://www.lessonface.com/content/build-your-own-classical-guitar-warm-part-1-slurs
Part 2: https://www.lessonface.com/content/build-your-own-classical-guitar-warm-part-2-arpeggios


Which Is Better?
That all depends on the player and the style of music. While there's certainly a pronounced difference between Duane and Leah's respective approaches, both players emphasize a few key elements of warming up; in particular, they focus on repeating very basic finger movements, starting slow and gradually building speed, and moving those finger exercises to different areas of the neck. Despite their rather different methodologies, both Duane and Leah have designed effective warm-ups that serve the key purpose of loosening up the fingers and wrists.
What Do You Think?
Guitarists: how do you warm up? What exercises or patterns help you keep your fingers and wrists relaxed? What do you think of Duane and Leah's approaches to warming up? We want to hear from you--leave your thoughts, theories, and questions in the comments.
 
Rod Ferreira
Instructor

Nice post!! Really cool ideas!

Warming up is so important to avoid any kind of injure! I really like the examples above!

Besides basic warming up exercises I always play old - simple songs to get my hands going too!! It is a good way to "wake" my fingers up and review some old old material! 

 

Daniel Hunter
Instructor

Great excercise!

I like to do a similar arpeggio excercise to warm up, alternating ascending and descending diatonic triads. So for example in G, ascending a G Maj triad, then descending an Am triad (starting from E), asscending Bm, descending C etc. To  warm up the right hand you can try to accent different beats, or all the 3rds or whatever! It's also great for working on your time.

Here's a demonstration frol the great Kurt Rosenwinkel

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