Reply To: Engaging Warm Up Activities

[nafmeadmin]

Wow! What an amazing website Gabe has created! I am a flutist studying music education at Kent Sate University. The only experience I have with string instruments is playing in the orchestra for the past two years, so this website was full of valuable knowledge–I will definitely reference this when I take string methods next semester.

I was, however, hoping someone could guide me on what you feel is the most important aspect of a good string warm up. If you only had 5 minutes a day to use for warm up time, would you suggest focusing on one specific “subject” every day? Or would you recommend having a new focus for the warm up every day. Also, how can you incorporate more than one focus into a warm up without it being overwhelming?

As a wind player, if I only have 5 minutes to warm up, I will spend a majority of that time playing long tones and harmonics. If I had time, I would then try to incorporate either double tonguing or some technical scale exercise. Am I right to assume long tones are not necessary for string warm ups? What are some vital components to a string warm up that can make all the difference both in the physical and mental aspect of string playing?