How long does it take you to warm up?

Sidivan said:
Stretch and play every single day. I start to get rusty if I don't play for a day or two. I usually just run some scales to get my hands communicating for about 5 minutes before the gig. I am generally really warmed up and things start clicking a couple songs into the first set.
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Yeah--I think playing everyday helps, as long as you don't overdo it. But I find if I play for over an hour I really get tuned into what I'm doing which means tuning absolutely everything else out. That's the groove I'm looking for--perfect focus--it has something to do with warming up but it's not the physical part.
 
Chris Buono's guitar gym exercises help me a lot to warm up, but usually it takes half an hour
 
Some days it seems that I can never get warmed up....nothing sounds good or my fingers aren't doing what I want. Other times in general when playing with a group, it takes a few songs to get in the groove.
 
When I play I'm extremely relaxed, and we play some pretty demanding stuff I've been told, but meh, I guess I'm special because I never warm up. Sometimes I don't practice for 2 or 3 months. Still rehearse at least once a week and gig as much as possible but yea, I'm not trying to make a living at it so sufficient is sufficient.
 
For general noodling, practicing scales, arpeggios, etc., takes me 1/2 hour to get comfortable. For individual songs, I need to warm up a minute or so for each one.
I'm not in a band and most likely never will be.
 
I always do a brief on-stage warm up for gigs by with about five minutes' worth of material:
(1) Two minutes : Play through some jazz chord progression like "rhythm changes" to loosen up my left hand, and to get my hands calibrated to the scale length of the instrument. I do this because I play four instruments with different tunings and scale lengths (guitar, baritone guitar, Warr guitar, banjo), and I like to awaken that muscle memory.
(2) Two minutes : Play through some three-octave scale, up and down the neck. I happen to be in a Dorian state of mind lately, so that's been the scale of choice. I don't try to do this at any degree of speed. The point of the scale is to make sure the notes speak cleanly across / up and down the neck. Most of the time I do the scale warmup at around 80 BPM. It's pretty slow, as I want to pay attention to my pick attack, economy of motion, and the condition of my strings / frets.
(3) One minute (unless the rest of the band joins us) : Noodle on some random song passage for fun. If I'm doing this onstage as part of our line check, I'll often kick into a song for the amusement of my bandmates (who often will jump in and join me). We did a fairly rousing version of "Spirit of the Radio" at a recent sound check. I'm a big Rush nerd, so it's easy for those songs to volunteer themselves from my subconscious.

We usually do (all or most of) two or three of our songs as a full-band soundcheck.

Once we're done soundchecking, I do a final spot-tune on my primary guitar. Then I take my backup guitar and retreat to the green room, and spend at least 30 minutes of focused practicing and really warming up. I like to use a metronome for 10-15 minutes to lock into a steady rhythm, then free-roll while I play through material for the show. I like to have my backup guitar with me until we head to the stage. When it's time to play I just carry it to the stage with me and leave it on the stand behind my primary guitar. I don't take my primary guitar to the dressing room because I want it to stay onstage, and remain at the same temperature as the space where I'll be playing it.
 
I'm with CK on this. I don't warm up before I play. I'm not sure I see the point of it. It seems like it's a less ambitious form of practicing. Beyond that, I think if I imposed that prerequisite onto myself, I'd play less than I already do.
 
^ Depends on what you play I guess, if you're a shredder then starting to play without warming up is like an athlete starting to run straight away without stretching first. Not a good plan and bound to cause injury.
 
Our shows are 2-3 hours in length, often without a break. The pre-gig warmup gets me into a zone of focus and awareness that allows me to be pretty relaxed during the show, even while playing technically demanding passages. That said, I can trot straight from the van to the stage when necessary, but I prefer having time with my guitar. For me, that warmup is as much meditative as physical; it helps reduce distractions and lowers the chances of "first song mechanical clunkiness".
 
Suhrfer said:
Everybody is different and I am curious. I am not worth a shit for at least 30 minutes. Hand sychronization is off, fingers sluggish, and it's as if I just picked up the guitar for the very first time. Well, nowhere near that bad, yet you get the picture. Sometimes it takes an hour or more. Some days I just don't get into the groove at all. Maybe I'm just getting old.
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+1

18 years old.... I could go on cold...

44 years old .....I'm cold
 
20 minutes or so seems to work best for me, and I never do more than an hour before a show or else I'll start tiring in the 2nd set. A metronome really helps too
 
Sleestak said:
Our shows are 2-3 hours in length, often without a break. The pre-gig warmup gets me into a zone of focus and awareness that allows me to be pretty relaxed during the show, even while playing technically demanding passages. That said, I can trot straight from the van to the stage when necessary, but I prefer having time with my guitar. For me, that warmup is as much meditative as physical; it helps reduce distractions and lowers the chances of "first song mechanical clunkiness".
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I can appreciate that idea of doing it to "get in the zone", but I think the comparison to it being like sprinting without warming up is, with all due respect, hogwash. I can play my fastest cold and it doesn't cause me any issues. What does cause my hand issues, however, is fatigue from playing too long.
 
Sure but when did music become a sport? :lol Who plays the fastest is a douchebaggery competition I have no intention of competing in. I make riffs that have a certain feeling. That is music. I'll leave all the unnecessary notes per second for YJM.

(this is semi sarcastic)
 
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