Reply To: Engaging Warm Up Activities

[nafmeadmin]

Scales and arpeggios are a great way to warm up the class. I would suggest incorporating not only major and minor scales, but also other modes such as Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, etc. Not only will your students have a better concept of different tonalities and be better prepared for music theory, but it will make warm ups much more interesting. Once scales are learned, incorporating different rhythms can also make warm ups more fun. Switch it up by having one student pick a scale and another pick a rhythm- immediately the class is more involved and warm ups have become more interesting.
Another idea is to have students warm up using their ears. Play a simple melody and have students echo back. This makes students listen to what note “do” is, has them analyze the major/minor steps or leaps between notes, and has them learning to play melodies by ear. Later, you could move on to playing a more difficult melody (perhaps of a popular tune, such as “Pink Panther” or the main melody of a Disney song), and have them echo back. If you are enjoying warm ups, chances are your students will start to as well.