Warm Ups For Musicians Part One

Learn how to warm up before you practice or perform.
This video is a more detailed "how to" explanation of the warm up routine that is shown in the Warm Up Routine video. It was made for the string players at SDSU.
Below are written notes for the warm up, cool down and strengthening exercises along with some important tips. Enjoy.
Exercises for Musicians
by Eileen Troberman
In these warm ups and cool downs, I've given you some things to do on your own to start you off on a path that can increase your playing ability, decrease your risk of injury, reduce performance anxiety, help you gain fluidity and effortless control along with a powerful ease while continuing to reduce your everyday level of tension.
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The following exercises were first presented in a seminar for string students at San Diego State University in November 2013. This document gives a list of cues for the warm up video and some important tips.
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Warm-up Sequence:
1. Head joints - nod, turn
Think you know where your head and spine come together? This is one of the most important joints of the body to leave free for overall effortless coordination
2. feet like palms, loosening body by swing
Using feet for grounding without heaviness, you can loosen with an easy swing.
3. finger stretch - arms hanging
Use this to teach your palms to be open at rest.
4. shoulder blade release
Think that you need to pull your shoulders back for posture? Instead leave them free to coordinate with fingers and arms. Release the knot or tightness that can hinder free shoulder and neck movements. This is also good to prevent performance anxiety and headaches.
5. palm and hand power from hips - press palms together in prayer position.
Get power and strength in hands and arms from releasing and widening hips and buttocks - not from tightening your upper body.
6. arms out to sides and overhead - front of body stretch - elbows out - fingers interlaced behind head
Here's a way to let your brain release and lengthen the muscles along the front of your body to counteract that tendency to slouch over forward.
7. forearm radius rotation - elbows hanging bent - palms shoulder height
Learn to let your wrists and palms rotate easily by letting the radius release.
8. connecting each finger to it's facial line in shoulder
Everything in our body is interconnected. This teaches you some lines of fascia that connect to each finger to allow freer finger reach.
9. bending - feet like palms, ankles like wrists, knees like elbows, hip joints like upper arm/ shoulder joint - head nod release - lowest point of hips goes back with trunk fold - long wide straight back - arms hang easily - use to sit or to pick up instrument from case or floor.
Protect yourself from back pain problems. Learn where your hip joints are how to bend from below that at the bottom of the trunk. Learn to leave your knees free if they were elbows and prevent knee pain or pressure.
Important tips:
Ask yourself the question: I am tightening my neck? And decide you probably are and don't know it (we usually are to varying degrees) and tell your brain to stop tightening your neck. You can send this signal anytime - it's just a brain signal! Deciding not to tighten your neck will let your head delicately lead your body into lengthening and will bring about effortless ease in your entire coordination.
Remember what we're after is a finesse in movement, large and small. This is gained through learning to have ease in your overall coordination, not by tightening, pulling or holding a different position. The idea is to cancel and prevent the pressures and tensions that are interfering with your comfort and ability. We release muscle tension by having an idea (a brain signal) of a different quality and direction of movement. That's what causes the release.
Always include your whole body - even when noticing a part.
All movements are done easily without pull or push.
All movements include a release of your neck by having an easy float of your head above the top of your spine and a release of your back into its free length and width
Stretching is not pulling on tight muscles - it's just easily increasing range
Notice and look for ease. Look for areas of ease in your body and let that ease spread to your whole body.
Be four-limbed.
Bring your instrument towards you instead of bringing yourself towards your instrument. Let it hug you instead of you collapsing forward to hug it. Let your instrument have fine balance so neither you or your instrument is stiffening. You and your instrument can move together - each with their own fine movements.

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