They’re Novel, They’re Fun – They’re The Most Awesome Piano Practice Warm Up Methods

Before heading straight to the piano, investing a bit of time in performing some warm up exercises would not only help in improving your accuracy, but also shield you against potential stress injuries. Be it going for a long run, or playing the piano – warming up is quite essential prior to any physical activity. You must get used to sitting in an upright position while playing the piano, because a crooked posture can lead to terrible backaches. Stretching your back, neck, and shoulder areas would fully equip you for spending a couple of hours at the keyboard. Also, try stretching your fingers as much as you can, for eliminating stiffness. Here are a few major benefits offered by warm-up exercises: Building muscle memory Regular warm-ups before practicing the piano enables the muscles of your wrists and fingers to get conditioned. As a result, you get to enjoy much more ease while playing different phrases and tempos. Your hands can easily adapt to sudden chord inversions and the complex patterns of melodies. Protecting you from injuries Stretching different parts of your body prior to playing improves dexterity, boosts the flow of blood to your joints and muscles and helps in preventing serious injuries. Do keep in mind that if you become a victim of arthritis or tendinitis, you might have to sacrifice a number of precious months of playing! A wonderful way of training your ears With repeated warm-ups using various chords and scales, you are bound to experience a remarkable improvement in your ear training. For becoming an adept player, you need to have a sharp ear along with sufficient awareness regarding music theory. Experimenting with various scale/chord progressions can be quite effective in this regard. Consistent warming up before settling down to play the piano automatically enhances the effectiveness of your practice sessions. Have a gala time with these fun warm-ups every day, before you start playing the tunes: Why not utilize your singing skills during piano practice? During your warm-up sessions in between playing, you can easily sing along if you happen to be familiar with the song. There might be a number of songs known to you, in case of ascending as well as descending. For instance, you can start humming to the tunes of ‘Mary Had A Little Lamb’ (major 2nd descending), Pink Panther (minor 2nd ascending), Morning Has Broken (major 3rd ascending), Jesus Loves Me (minor 3rd descending), or Amazing Grace (perfect 4th ascending). Practicing Chromatics Along with a Partner Try practicing the chromatic scale with the help of a partner. Ask your partner to shut his/her eyes for a few seconds. After that while playing the scale, simply skip a note. Your partner’s challenge would be to determine the interval which you were playing. You can repeat this exercise several times while skipping notes of your choice. Trade places with your partner and let him/her play the scale. Enjoy the guessing game! Learning to Recognize the Major or Minor Scales With the help [...]

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