what are some good warm up exercises?

[Miskelin]

Sometimes i get cramps or aches in my fingers and thumb, and im just wondering what are some good exercises to avoid these

[jakerc]

well chromatics are good..do them slowly and all up and down the neck, then you can reverse the fingerings. scales are also good. also remember to stretch before you play, rotate your wrists slowly, bend them gently, etc. in rock discipline petrucci recommends massaging your hands and fingers as well to keep them loose and prevent cramps. good luck.

[Alive]

http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=308621

[MRDuCran]

There aren't specific exercises for warming up, warming up is simply getting your fingers used to the guitar so you're ready to play more harder, faster and more complex things easier and to avoid injury. If your preparing for an alternate pickign session, play what you're going to play, but slowly and accuratly over and over. Then after about 10 mins, start properly.
But I agree chromatics are good for warm ups since they involve all fingers.

[Ladyshredder126]

when i warm up i play the e minor pentatonic scale in 3 positions (open, 6th-string root [at 12] and 5th-string root). then i play whatever solo i feel like, or maybe just a jam solo.

if your on accoustic, play chords in their open forms and then their 6 and 5 root bar forms.

[onion540]

do some things to get your fingers moving.... like....

do these up like that vvv then go back wards and start at 4 on top e and go back donw to the low e. do the whole thing back wards that helps a bit and do them at different places on the neck TRY AND USE YOUR LITTLE FINGER AS THESE WILL STRENGTHEN IT there fore letting you play more complex stuff and at faster speeds.

|--------------------------------------------1-2-3-4-|
|-----------------------------------1-2-3-4----------|
|--------------------------1-2-3-4-------------------|
|------------------1-2-3-4---------------------------|
|----------1-2-3-4-----------------------------------|
|-1-2-3-4--------------------------------------------|

well i cant be bothered to type all that again so ill type of the shapes and you can do them up and down strings up and down the fret board backwards inverted as in like starting at on 1 on top and and going doing the excersize then dropping a string. id reccomend doing stuff like this every time you pick up your guitar as i find it helps loosen up your fingers, and can also greatly help your speed if you try and push your speed and do the excersizes.

any way heres the other ones that i can think of right now. fit them into that kind of shape thats up there.


|-1-3-2-4-| this one can be a bit wierd to play at first but will help your finger co-ordination.

|-2-3-4-1-|

|-3-4-1-2-|

|-4-2-3-1-|

|-1-3-4-|

|-1-2-4-|

|-2-3-4-|

start picking these ones and then try and just pick the first note and hammer on and pull off ther rest

|-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1-2-|

|-2-3-2-3-2-3-2-3-2-3-2-3-|

|-3-4-3-4-3-4-3-4-3-4-3-4-|

|-2-4-2-4-2-4-2-4-2-4-2-4-|

|-1-3-1-3-1-3-1-3-1-3-1-3-|

|-1-4-1-4-1-4-1-4-1-4-1-4-|

there some that i can think of off the top of my head... if i think of any more later which i probably will ill post them. just remember to play stuff like this whenever you can as they will help you speed and will loosen up your fingers if your just looking for that kind of thing.

[Alive]

http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=308621

123

Scales and stuff

[Trigger_003]

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