My Piano Warm Up Routine

Here’s the truth: for the first 15 years of playing piano, I never warmed up once.

Actually, in hindsight I never even really practiced until I was 25 years old.  Can you believe that?  I’d always been able to get away with sight-reading everything and just sitting down and playing.  I never had any trouble.  And then I did.

At age 21 I developed tendinitis in my left thumb (technically: DeQuervain Tendinitis).  This should serve as a warning to any younger players that aren’t paying attention to warming up, practicing and technique.  I was playing in a rock band at the time – thrashing my chops from one end of a keyboard to the other – and doing whatever hand formations I needed to get from one lick to the next.  Not surprisingly, the quality of my playing in those days was often erratic.  I’d have good days and bad days, and I usually blamed it on my talent and not my technique.  I don’t think I knew the difference.

I went to doctors and they gave me cortisone shots.  I did that 3 times.  I do not recommend using this method for musicians.  Too much cortisone can melt your tendons, and where would you be then?  And this method doesn’t fix the underlying bad habits at all – in fact, it allows you to keep playing over your injury – making it worse!

I tried acupuncture, and that actually helped a great deal.  I don’t know how acupuncture works, but it does.  However, this also didn’t fix the underlying problem and as soon as I ran out of money for acupuncture, I had the same problem.

One of the problems I’d developed was bad technique habits, which I won’t get into here, and the other one was not warming up.  Over the years I’ve developed a warm up routine that works for me and I want to detail it for you.

The first thing I had to realize is that warming up is not practice.  I’m not trying to get better or work up new things with a warm up.  I’m concentrating on my muscles, ligaments and tendons.  I’m trying to wake them up and get blood flowing to them so that they will be loose, lubed and ready for anything.

I start with simple 5 finger exercises.  I start with 8th notes at around 100bpm, gradually increasing to around 120 bpm.  I like using Hanon exercises like the one below.  They are simple enough that I don’t need to concentrate on the notes. I can then concentrate on my hands and body.

I start lightly.  I don’t make my fingers support the full weight of my arm.  Not yet.  I just float my fingers slowly across the keys.

I also start my warm up one hand at a time.  I find each hand needs different things at the beginning.

I take the finger exercise up 2 octaves, then start back down.  As I near the end of those 2 octaves, I begin to allow my fingers to support more arm weight.  I never push down, I just let the weight of my arm sink into my figures.  The dynamics naturally go from piano to mezzoforte/forte.

I’ll take this 5 finger exercise up and down the 2 octaves at least 4 times, maybe more.  Eventually I increase the speed, but not too much.  Not above 130 bpm  This isn’t strength exercising or practicing – this is warm up.

After that I begin scales.  I play all 12 major scales, up and down 2 octaves.

I’ve found it important to not stop playing during this process.  I keep a steady stream of 8th notes coming from my fingers and move seamlessly from one exercise to the next.  Eventually my hand and arm will feel warm as if blood flow is increasing.  Actually, blood flow is increasing and that’s the point.  That’s how you know you’re doing it right.

Then I do the same with the next hand.

Then I play scales in 10ths with both hands (left hand starting on C, right hand starting on the E a 10th above).  By I should be mostly warmed-up and I increase the speed.  I bring it up to 16th notes at 100bpm, lightening the arm weight on my fingers as I get faster.

It sounds like a lot maybe, but this whole process takes 10-15 minutes and it is worth it.  If I’m going to a gig that I know I won’t be able to warm up at, I try to warm up at home before I go.

Warming up not only helps keep my hands healthy, it also makes me playing more consistent.  My hands respond better to my brain when they are ready to work.

How do you warm up?