Have you ever sat down at the piano to play a little bit to enjoy yourself but end up flubbing and tripping and mushing the tones together? You know that you know the music, so why does it happen?
It happens because you are not warmed up!
Just like you would jog in place or do some jumping jacks before sports practice, your fingers and hand-eye coordination also need warming up before practice.
There are some piano warm ups that are standard, that everyone learns and uses. Scales are the most common. There are various scales that you can try, the easiest being the five-finger scale. These should sound like “do re mi fa so.” Try going backward. Do not play too fast because you still want to have control over your fingers. Most students who know scales play the entire octave, which includes turning the thumb under or the hand over the thumb at different points of the scale. Intermediate and advanced students can play Major and minor scales and their arpeggios.
Some piano lesson books have pieces with the word “Study” or “Etude” in their titles. These pieces make good warm ups, too. The Michael Aaron Grade One book has many of these, so begin with the first ones and work your way on. If you have been instructed to learn some of them in different keys, now is the time to learn them.
If you play from a technical drills book such as A Dozen a Day, Hanon, or Czerny, warm up with these drills. Do not jump to the new ones. Begin with the simplest drills at the beginning of the book.
Warm ups should take about ten minutes, time not wasted. You’ll notice that your repertoire and new pieces will sound more beautiful and clear after you have warmed up properly.
