Warm up before practice
Would like suggestions for warm-up routines, 5-10 minutes, before a practice session. I have some things I routinely do, but would be interested in what others do.
Thanks.
Phil Pennington
Miggy and Phil: Here's how I warm up.
50 pushups
15 pull-ups
Run three miles at moderate pace
Hit punching bag 100 times
Wash car
Vacuum living room
Pull out harps
Just kidding. Save for that last thing. Like Miggy says, it's mental. Organize harmonicas and equipment, set up any sheet music being used, turn off cell phone, check practice "to-do" list, and then some light bending, scales, etc.
Phil hi. I do a warmup at the start of my practice without fail. L play the exercise Bending 4.5 Can't find it on the site so have sent you a recording by email. One of the key benefits of a warmup is it gets me motivated to practice.
Phil hi. I do a warmup at the start of my practice without fail. L play the exercise Bending 4.5 Can't find it on the site so have sent you a recording by email. One of the key benefits of a warmup is it gets me motivated to practice.
The simplets warmup is to simply get the first four holes in your mouth and play long chords, alternating in and out, breathing gently and using the entire air column that starts at the bottom of your lungs.
Start by playing maybe 4 seconds (or 4 beats at a metronome setting of 60) in each breath direction, listening for a full sound.
Then, on each breath, start swelling the sound as loud it will go and then tape it off to the softest sound before the reeds stop responding, then back to somewhere in the middle.
Then , start working the tongue. Break up each chord into a series of burests but DON'T STOP BREATHING. Use the T articuation, the K articulation, and the tongue-on-all-the-holes articulation to break each breath into a series of repetitions of the chords.
Also use throat articulation to break each breath into a series of repetitions.
Next, double the rate of breath changes to 2 seconds, first with just in-out breaths.
Then, break each breath into two pulses with tongue and throat, using the methods above.
There's more, but this by itself will get your breathing, tongue, and throat going.
Thanks all for your replies. Miggy, you asked what I do. Usually, a couple of runs through Major, Blues, and pentatonic scales; a few bends to loosen things up; and maybe some splits. I may focus on a technique, shakes at the moment, tho that's more like practice i suppose. My main focus now is learning songs and I jump into the current project pretty quickly.
I always do a Warm up before very practice session or before the set. So this is what I do -
1. Pick a harmonica (start with G). Start with lower octave. Blow softly for 10-15secs and then draw for 10-15 secs. Move to middle and then higher octave. Focus on belly breathing. Expand your diaphragm.
2. Play major scale across the harmonica. I do this to test the mic :)
3. Play bend notes. I do this to train my ears and hit the notes and not over draw or over blow.
Hello Phil,
I don’t really feel the need to “physically” warm up that much on the harmonica, as opposed to playing the guitar or singing, where there are more sensitive muscles, articulations, etc. involved. Maybe a bit of tongue switching to warm up the jaw (depending on the technique used, because I think some players don't move the jaw that much). If I’m going to do some really low bends on a low harp I might start by doing some lighter bends.
But for me it’s mainly about getting into the right mindset of a relaxed, smooth playing. For that I do more repetitive exercises, so I can focus on what’s happening elsewhere in my body. For instance, exercises from the Movement Exercises Study series. Can be movement patterns, arpeggios, scales. These are also things that can be a bit less fun and that I probably would skip otherwise.
What is it you do?