Playing an instrument is a huge commitment that requires hours of practice. How can you make your practice more effective and efficient? Before putting in the time and effort it takes to be a virtuoso on an instrument, you need to make sure your hands and fingers are prepared and warmed up. Failing to take care of your hands and wrists may result in serious damage over the years. Whilst Dr. Pruzansky is top 1.2% of hand surgeons, you should not rely on surgery to save you when you can protect yourself by warming up every time you play!
As you develop your instrumental skills, you should gradually move from beginner to advanced levels. You should warm up before playing an instrument so that you can maintain good finger strength and accuracy.
What are the Different Warm Ups Before You Start an Instrument?
There is so much warming up required before playing an instrument. The goal is to get the muscles in your fingers, wrist, arm, hand, neck, and forearm loose and ready to go.
Reasons Why You Need to Do Warm Ups Before Playing an Instrument
The warm-up is an important part of playing an instrument. It helps get the blood flowing, reduces the risks of injury, and gets you in the “zone” before playing. There are a lot of different ways that you can warm up, but they can all be broken down into two types: passive and active. Passive warm-ups are those which you do without touching your instrument. Active warm-ups use the body to create movement in the muscles. The following are the reasons why you should warm up and why it is important:
For the Fingers and Hand
There are quite a few different warm-up exercises for the fingers, depending on the instrument. These exercises are more for warming up the fingers and the hand and getting them ready for playing the instrument. The exercises are quite simple, and basically, all you have to do is hold the instrument. If you are starting to learn how to play the piano, for example, you should warm up the fingers and hands for at least 30 seconds. The purpose of the exercises is to make your hands warm, limber and get them ready as soon as you pick up the instrument. When playing a piano, the sitting posture also becomes important; slouching or sitting lazily may not allow you to play well, and also cause strain to the body. Getting wood piano benches that are especially made for the instrument can help with posture correction.
For the Wrist
Playing an instrument is a lot of fun, but the road to being a master musician can be a long one. The first step along that road is to learn how to properly warm up your hands and arms before you start playing. You don’t need to stop at a simple wrist warm-up; your arms and hands are also very important. A warm-up before playing an instrument helps prevent injury, improves your technique, and allows you to perform better.
For the Arm
One of the best ways to warm up your tone is to play your guitar or drum instrument for a little while before you begin. This will give your fingers and arm a quick workout, which will allow you to play with greater velocity and intensity. In addition to this, you will be playing at a more even tempo, which will allow you to feel more comfortable and confident when you start your music for the day.
For the Neck
Warming up before you start playing an instrument is the most important thing you can do to get the best sound out of your instrument. This is because when you start playing an instrument, it will be played dynamically. The result of this is that your instrument will produce many sounds quickly, and all of these sounds will come from your muscles. This is a big problem because it means that there is a possibility that the muscles in your neck will not be able to handle the sudden increase in volume. As a result, you could experience pain in your neck, preventing you from playing an instrument in the long term. Therefore, if you happen to experience visible symptoms right from the start, reaching out to Denver Neck Surgeons might be a prudent choice in this regard.
The warm-up is a mandatory part of playing an instrument, but it’s not always clear what you should do or how long to do it. Warm-ups may have been developed over the last century to make new students more comfortable with the instrument they are about to play, but they still have a real purpose. In general, they are physical activities meant to improve muscle relaxation and coordination, prepare the body’s muscles to work harder without injury, and prepare you to play.
