By Laurie Niles: Let's say you arrive to the performance -- or to your lesson -- with less than 10 minutes to warm up. What will you play?![playing with mirror]()
There are all kinds of options -- some people play open strings. Some play scales and arpeggios, and that can take a lot of different forms: you can play one octave or up to four. You can play major scales, minor scales. And then there are double-stop scales! Arpeggios have many permutations as well. I've noticed some of my colleagues warming up with Schradieck exercises that they have committed to memory, or another etude that works particularly well for them.
Another colleague mentioned open strings - there is a whole world to playing open strings.
And let's not forget incorporating various bowings into the warm-up.
BTW, if you need more ideas or want to enhance your current routine, a nice reference is Simon Fischer's 2011 book, called Warming Up.
If I had 10 minutes to warm up, I'd likely turn to the routine I've had for years: a Galamian three-octave acceleration scale, with a number of bowings (slurred, detache, spiccato, ricochet and sometimes up and down-bow staccato). I find this to be effective in getting my muscles firing, in connecting with the instrument, and also in making me feel calm and relaxed.
Do you have any interesting warm-up rituals? Please vote, and share your thoughts below.
You might also like:
