Getting Started: The Importance of a Warm-Up Routine

As I mentioned in my previous article, How to Approach Ear Training, my current approach to practicing ear training is modeled around my same approach to practicing my instrument. Whatever your instrument is, you know the importance of a warm-up routine. Besides the obvious intention of getting “warmed-up,” as in a mental and physical preparation for playing, one of the great advantages of a well-structured routine is the application of fundamentals.

For example, my primary instrument is the trombone and I have focused my warm-up routine on fundamentals of brass playing. The idea here is to get as much out of these exercises that I can and, furthermore, to choose exercises that will benefit multiple aspects of my playing. When I go to practice the trombone, I start by playing on just the mouthpiece, without the rest of the instrument and all the extra stuff it requires me to think about. Besides being an excellent way of getting all the facial muscles involved with playing warmed-up and ready to play, it’s also probably the most vital exercise for tone control, tone quality, flexibility and range. It’s a chance to focus on the very basics of brass playing. I could go on through my other warm-up exercises, but you get the idea. This same tactic, though, can be applied to ear training.

Practise listening to long notes to warm up your ears