Warming Up

[Kapellmeister27]

what do you do to warm up before oyu practice?

i mean sometimes if your hands are cold or stiff and you dont want to get into your pieces right away what types of exercises do you do to get warmed up?

[thierry13]

scales or octave, I HATE playing with cold hands.

[Waldszenen]

Hanon

Nos. 1 - 20.

[lagin]

scales or octave, I HATE playing with cold hands.

Octaves when cold!  Don't hurt yourself!

[steinwayguy]

Either Bach or Choipn Etude Op. 10 No. 1 (I'm not kidding!!). Or I play a piece I don't have up to speed securely yet, for example, it's been the octave skips section of the mephisto waltz. I figure, if you can play these things cold, you can play them anytime you want, kind of similiar to the 3 AM thread.

[ted]

I used to warm up when I was younger but I don't seem to have to so much now.

[tds]

I used to warm up when I was younger but I don't seem to have to so much now.

this is also the case with me. i never play scales no more. in fact, i dont even know how i warm up. i just approach the piano calmly and listen myself playing. one thing i always make sure, i.e. my playing has to be effortless and free. if not, i will immediately stop. once more, calm myself down, and this time i figure out the problem. tds (this is prolly not a help at all )

[allthumbs]

Although playing the piano is a physical activity and you should warm up the muscles in order to perform at maximum efficiency, sometimes it is beneficial to play pieces cold for the experience. I agree with Steinwayguy  that if you practice playing pieces cold, you can play them anywhere, anytime and under any circumstances.

If you look at elite athletes performing at a high level (and they same with concert pianists), they make it look so easy because they are able to relax during their performance. This however, comes from years of practice and self analysis.

tds has the right idea about making sure one's playing is effortless and free and if it isn't stopping and finding out why.

I would suggest playing easy pieces to start or harder pieces at a much slower speed. Fantasie-impromptu comes to mind if you play that piece. Scales and other technical exercises are beneficial in developing dexterity, muscle strength, staminia amd endurance. However, like the elite athlete, you should not do the technical exercises to the point of causing pain or extreme discomfort. The old adage "No pain, no gain" is outdated and has no place in sports let alone piano practice.

In closing, make your technical exercies part of your daily routine for warming up and improving your muscle development, but sometimes forgo those and just play.

[JLefrere]

Allthumbs makes a good point..
I've spent most of my time learning on a full-size keyboard, and it has an extremely light touch. A lot of pianos I've played on need a much harder touch, and of course I find them much harder to play on.
But to answer the question, to warm up, I play drums. A bit different, maybe, but I find it works very well.

[allthumbs]

Thanks Jlefrere

Just one other point I'd like to make in addition to my last post. You can take a difficult passage from a piece you are working on and not only use that as your warmup, but also as your practice on some technical aspect of your playing.

[Jacey1973]

Thanks Jlefrere

Just one other point I'd like to make in addition to my last post. You can take a difficult passage from a piece you are working on and not only use that as your warmup, but also as your practice on some technical aspect of your playing.

Yeah this is a very good idea - getting two things done at once!

[anda]

depending on how much time i have to warm up, what i need the warming up for (the type of works i have to play) and how much i need the warm up (the state of my hands):

- chromatic scale in minor 3rds/major 3rds/4ths/augm.4ths/5ths/minor 6ths/major 6ths/ octaves (not all of them, of course, usually 2 or 3 of them i pick more or less randomly)

- chopin etudes op. 10 (esp. nos 1, 2, 4, 8, 12) - 1 or 2

- some of my encore pieces

[will]

Mostly exercise away from the instrument. Swing my arms around in large circles, alternate forming a fist and straightening fingers, shake my hands around etc. If it is a very cold day I may add sitting over a heater for a few minutes to that list. Once I sit down at the piano I am ready to fire away.

[tocca]

In the book by Chang, he says something like: Don't throw theese precious minutes away by doing scales or execercises.

I agree 100%! Like others said, this is the perfect time to practise at playing cold! Many times when you're playing in public you won't have the possibility to warm up properly at the Piano.
Find ways (like Will, swinging the arms, forming fists) or whatever to get prepared so you can play a piece good directly. The only opportunity ever to practise this is when we are cold, the first time at the Piano for the day.
Sitting down and playing scales then, you'll miss the chance of trying to find a way to be able to play without playing scales first.

My 2cents.

[Chrysalis]

burgmuller and bach
nuff said

i think the way of warming up is different for each person
per example:

if somebody says: i play 10:1 for warming up doesn't automatically mean I can
play 10:1 for warming up. I cant play the piece half with warm fingers

[Muzakian]

I usually improvise for five to ten minutes before practising, because it forces my mind into a "musical" state rather than a "going through the motions" state. I hope that makes sense.  However I don't have a piano teacher any more (not in the last two years), and I only play for my own enjoyment, so I wouldn't necessarily recommend my method for more serious pianists.

[joachimf]

I agree with all of you saying it is important to be able to play cold, it really is... I'm not too good at it....
Though I often find myself doing "Cortot - daily gymnastics" first, then perhaps have a 30 min break before I start playing "semi-cold",.... I really like the Cortot exercises, they are not scales or anything (not the daily stuff at least), but focus more on getting control over the fingers, etc.
There is also a kind of method of warming the arms up in the "daily gymnastics", like Will talked about, though in C., you use the piano as guide.

I usually never do Hanon as warm-up.

I can really recommend "Cortot - Rational Principles of Pianoforte Technique", by the way. It is mostly etydes, but in a different approach than Czerny, Herz, Hanon, etc.

I haven't done all of the exercises in the book tough, does anyone else have any experience with it? 

Thanks for such a great forum btw, I've been looking for a place like this for ages... 

[Rach3]

Sight reading - Bach fugues or the like, helps psychologically.

-Rach3

[bachmaninov]

I first play through Bach's Italian Concerto (Presto) - Then Chopin's 'Ocean Wave' Etude at half tempo. That usually does the trick.