There’s no worse feeling than getting on stage with frozen fingers – here are MMA’s tried and tested warm-up hacks to get you gig-ready
The team at MMA is full of gigging musicians and we all have horror stories from gigs gone wrong. Usually, those nightmares could have been avoided with a proper warm-up routine.
Feeling ready in your fingers will help alleviate any doubts in your mind and allow you to play with freedom and confidence. Whether you have access to a quiet practice space or not, our warm-up hacks have you covered.
The Petrucci hack
Many years ago, I came across a video detailing John Petrucci’s warm up method. I’ve sworn by it ever since.
Fret any note with your first finger then play one fret up with your second finger, alternating notes a couple of times. Repeat this up and down every string. I do this with alternative picking – an up and then a down stroke – to warm up my right hand at the same time.
Next, repeat the exercise with your first and third fingers, with the latter two frets up, then again with your first and fourth. Each finger should have its own dedicated fret.
Work your way through every finger combination, ultimately ending with your third and fourth fingers. This is a great way to get all fingers warmed up equally and also help strengthen the often neglected little finger. Sometimes I’ll do two runs of the final pattern, involving my third and fourth fingers, to make sure those often overlooked fingers get plenty of attention.
You can even test your finger strength and legato skills by repeating the exercise without picking a note, trying to get a consistent dynamic with each note – but do it with a pick first to get your picking hand into the groove too.
Four-finger moves
The Petrucci hack is great because it gets all fingers moving equally. Another way to achieve this is to play four-finger note patterns across one string. These can either be a single fret apart – making a chromatic phrase – or adhering to a more standard and musical sounding scale.
The main purpose isn’t for it to sound pretty, but for your fingers to start going through the motions and turn stiff movements into fluid ones.
A tip to further this would be to play a four-note pattern on one string, and then skip a string and repeat those notes an octave up. Exercises like this, as well as simple chord swapping exercises, help get your hands ready for complicated position shifts that you may have to do across your set.
No green room? No problem!
We don’t all get to play arenas night in night out, and often a green room – let alone a convenient space to dump your gear – is a luxury we don’t get. That presents a major problem: How can you warm up without standing in the middle of the crowd with your guitar?
The answer: Hand exercisers.
I use the D’Addario Varigrip, but there are other insanely cheap options out there. I can use it in the middle of the venue, at the bar, in the smoking area – wherever. And it lets me get my fingers moving without relying on my guitar.
I usually do a back-and-forth motion one finger at a time, pushing down once or twice with each finger from my first to my fourth and back again.
The Viragrip also lets you increase or decrease the resistance, which is particularly useful for your pinky as you’ll quickly realise this is the weakest of all your fingers. So you can make that one button easier to press down than the others.
I’ve had gigs where I haven’t touched my guitar until I was on stage but felt raring to go after a few minutes of using the exerciser.
But don’t overdo it – you don’t want to be fatigued before you get on stage.
The Guitar Hacks | Modern Metal Academy
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