Here's another in the series of articles called, "Becoming A Cat". They are intended to bring the talented novice to the level of the professional musician quickly, by addressing certain unwritten laws like Rehearsal Etiquette, Comping, Reading Music, etc.

Warming Up - If your gig has an 8:00 downbeat, you should have your instrument in your hands and be warming up at 7:30. Try to allow for this in planning your schedule. If done properly, a warm up routine is a very valuable habit to develop.

Dancers and atheletes stretch before a workout. Musicians should warm up too.

Once you've resolved to do it, try to develop a set routine that you run through. The major scales, exercises, arpeggios, and modes contained in this book make excellent warm up routines. They stretch the fingers and reinforce necessary musical concepts which you absorb subconciously.

A bad warm up routine does no good.

As a young novice I would pick up my guitar routinely just before the downbeat. The other players were all warming up, but I was too dumb to notice. When I did warm up, I played some crap that I would always play. One day the keyboard player busted me and I realized that I was screwing up. I began to use the scales as the basis of my routine and I have never been sorry.

Previous Tuition Articles by C.Cortez in GNW:

Use Of The Major Scale In Improvisation
www.GuitarSite.com/newsletters/990405/4.shtml

The Art Of Comping
www.GuitarSite.com/newsletters/990412/4.shtml

More info on Blue Bamboo Music:
www.GuitarSite.com/database/Bands-Artists/rec/1211

or go to the official site and find out about Talamasca, the new CD from Christopher Cortez:
www.bluebamboo.com

"We have a digital recording studio, produce our own albums, contract musicians for shows, write charts, create MIDI files, compose for film and television, and give free technical and marketing advice." - Blue Bamboo Music

More on Warm Ups & exercise, from:
www.GuitarSite.com/health.htm

What does it mean when my hands start to hurt? Pain is your body's way of telling you you're doing something wrong. When your hands start to hurt, STOP PLAYING. I know, I tend to go overboard, myself. A couple of weeks ago a friend stopped by and we jammed for most of the day. The next day, my left wrist hurt so bad I could hardly bend it. Scared me enough that I didn't play for several days, and it got better. Your body wasn't designed to play for hours at a time, and you can permanently damage it by overdoing it. Before you play, stretch out your hands, fingers, and arms. Some people recommend washing your hands in warm water, first. Warm up slowly, take frequent breaks, and stop when it hurts. Also, pay attention to your playing position. Wearing your guitar too low is a big invitation to carpal tunnel syndrome. Try to keep your wrist as straight as possible when fretting.

Make sure you are warming up correctly to avoid tendonitis. If your hands or forearms cramp up or hurt when playing, stop, relax and start again. Don't play in pain - you're not ready if you do.

Marty Friedman says:

"Whenever you're going to do any form of strenuous exercise you should always warm up first if you want to avoid possibly hurting yourself. Warm up before you do pretty much anything on the guitar, be it recording, playing a gig or rehearsing. There are many bones, tendons and muscles involved in moving your fingers around, so before you start flailing 'em around recklessly, you should really do some form of warm up."

More on Marty:
www.GuitarSite.com/newsletters/990621/9.shtml

Megadeth:
www.GuitarSite.com/newsletters/990621/8.shtml

Warm Up Exercises: Use a metronome with all exercises, and use a clean tone. If at anytime your hands or forearms cramp up or hurt, STOP shake out your hands and arms, then try to relax and start again, if you continue playing with the pain, you will probably develop tendonitis or a similar problem... more: www.GuitarSite.com/HowToPlay/warmup_exercises.tab

See also:
Health & Safety for Guitarists & other Musicians
www.GuitarSite.com/health.htm

Three Chromatic exercises, great warm-ups!
www.GuitarSite.com/PickingExercises/chromatic1.html

Four warm-up/stamina building exercises www.GuitarSite.com/PickingExercises/chromatic2.html