Studies, finger exercises, scales and arpeggios. Whatever you choose to run through, it’s generally accepted that using them to warm up before you get stuck into playing repertoire is a GOOD THING. Who doesn’t know a pianist with tendon or finger-strain issues through playing with cold, tense and stiff fingers, wrists and arms?
Gabriela Montero
Doubtless keen to avoid the same injuries, a reader of this magazine recently wrote to the editor wishing to broaden their knowledge of the exercise repertoire. ‘What do we play for the first five minutes or so when we sit down for our daily practice?’, asked the reader, who then continued: ‘Some of the warm-ups I’ve used (besides scales and arpeggios) include rotating through the Hanon exercises, where I will play one of the exercises in a different key each day until I’ve gone through all twelve keys before moving on to the next; or the various exercises in section one of Beringer’s Daily Technical. A couple of the Brahms exercises are great warm-ups, too. I’d love to read about what other pianists use for warm-ups.’
