Welcome to Practice Tips. In these posts, I’ll provide some tips on how to make your practice sessions more efficient, effective, and fun.
My first tip is to make sure to warm up before every practice session. This can mean something different for every player, but it is a good habit to develop. Here are a few ideas. Remember to play slowly and accurately and work your way up to faster more demanding music slowly!
– Playing a song that is easy for you and not physically taxing. If you’re a strummer, start with some Bob Dylan.
Playing a Bob Dylan song is a great way to warm up for acoustic players.
– 1-2-3-4 Patterns. These are nonsense patterns in a way, but they are an easy way to play something to get yourself moving. The goal isn’t to play anything amazing here, just to get your hands going. These patterns also can lead to some great music, check out my video on warmup songs using the 1-2-3-4 pattern.
5 Warmup Songs that use the 1-2-3-4 pattern
If you’re a lead player, try playing the melodies in the In Flames’ song “Jotun” as a warm up.
– Scales, Arpeggios, and Chords. Practicing these basic building blocks of music slowly are a great way to warm up and to understand the instrument better. Warming up with them gets them out of the way as well, so that you can get to playing actual music!
– A light bit of stretching of your arms, shoulders, neck, hands. Remember to stretch gently. Check out John Petrucci’s stretching advice from the indispensible guitar instructional video, “Rock Discipline.”
To play music as physically demanding as Dream theater, you’d better warm up first!
John Petrucci Stretching
There are all manners of warmup exercises out there to try. Try to find the ones that work best for you, whether they be song-based, pattern-based, or something else entirely. Just remember the goal with warming up is to go slowly and ease into more difficult music. I usually recommend anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes of warmup exercises, depending on what you will be playing. Remembering to warm up before your practice session will help you to play your best while reducing the chance of injury. Take your time, have fun, and keep practicing!
