4 Piano Warm-Up Routines

We all know that warmup exercises help us immensely before any physical workout as they help us prevent injury to ligaments and tendons during our workout and allow our bodies to wake up a bit before putting so many demands on them. It goes the same with musicians practising the piano or any other instrument as it helps them to play better, prevents them from straining hands or wrists, and gives a feeling of connectedness to the piano before you start the hard work of practising. Given below are a few warm-up routines by Dallas piano teachers which will prepare you best for your piano sessions:

1. Start with scales and arpeggios: It is fine if you do not know all your scales and arpeggios because this warmup time provides you the best time to practice them and learn them better each day. Try new/different scales and arpeggios each day. Try to move up chronologically in order as you move through a new scale and play as many octaves as you can, and go through this sequence of a new scale/arpeggio every day until you reach back at C. Next, try to play through your minor scales and arpeggios similarly by starting with the Harmonic minors first, then you can add in the natural and melodic afterwards.

2. Use your metronome: Set the tempo at 60 equal quarter notes to begin with for your scales and arpeggios. Once you become perfect with your notes at this speed, then move up two or three numbers and try again at this tempo. Do not set the metronome at a tempo that is too fast for you to play but try to play all notes correctly.

3. Sight reading: Sight reading fresh music each day is the best way to warm up your brain power like warming up your fingers and hands by starting with scales and arpeggios. It makes you focused, keeps us alert and brings you into the moment. Try to choose something new to play that may seem a little easy to start with. Remember, as you have never seen or played this music before, so try to keep it simple and stick to what you know already. Read/play through at least a page of new music each day which can be several different short pieces or can be a piece that is the whole page.

4. Practice Arpeggios in Octaves: Start with this step slowly and try playing with both hands together, feel the form of your hands as you play in this stretched position and as they move across the keyboard, then allow yourself and your hands to learn this form as you practice. Here, accuracy is the main goal. You have to keep in mind to not hit extra notes with your other fingers while moving up and down the keyboard and aim to play just the 2-octave notes in each hand. You will find your hand jumping all over the keyboard and this is one of the reasons why this is such a great warm-up exercise. It will get comfortable with each passing day, so just keep at it.