Keep your thumbs up, sit up straight, and do your warm ups every day. My teachers’ words echo through my memory as I pass on the same advice to my own students. Warm ups have always been a comfortable routine for me—like a favorite pair of jeans that are perfectly broken in, even if they are showing just a little bit of wear. But wait, is that good? Beyond the familiar routine and our teachers’ advice, why do we bother with warm ups? And more importantly, why do we tend to do the same ones every day?

Being Chased by a Saber-toothed Tiger

During my annual harp-wellness workshop and masterclass, I collaborated with Dr. Sajid Surve, a performance doctor at the University of North Texas, who reminded the audience that humans evolved to be able to fire up quickly. If humans had to stop and stretch before effectively out-running and out-smarting their predators, they wouldn’t have evolved past lunch for saber-toothed tigers. If we are designed to move this way, why would warm ups even be needed? Maybe the harpists who skip warm ups and go right into practice have been ahead of the rest of us the whole time.

Stretching your Brain

The difference between harpists and our saber-toothed-chased ancestors is that running from a predator required sheer speed, but not the type of fine-tuned skill required by harpists. Our brains need time to engage, so warm ups help your brain as much as your muscles. Just as you might be a little wobbly and unbalanced when you wake up in the morning, warm ups give your brain and muscles a chance to interact and find their united groove. So the logical question is, “Could you play the harp without warming up?” Certainly you can, but you will be more efficient if you offer your brain a chance to get in sync with your muscles first.

Warm-up Ingredients

Think of your favorite food and the required ingredients. The quality of ingredients can elevate or destroy a recipe—using wilted greens in a salad or flat yeast in bread will not yield the same results as fresh stock, even if the recipe is great. Consider your warm ups to be the ingredients in a recipe of practice time. The better the ingredients, the better the final product. Not only is it important to use fresh ingredients, but it’s also important to try new ones from time to time.

Consider your warm ups to be the ingredients in a recipe of practice time. The better the ingredients, the better the final product.

These warm-up ingredients normally come from several groups of techniques that are the staples in our harp repertoire: scales, chords, arpeggios, and whatever techniques are most advanced and require special practice in your current pieces (e.g. trills, cross-fingering, harmonics, etc.). By specifically focusing on these techniques in your warm ups, you will be more apt to apply the techniques accurately later in your practice and performance.

Keeping it Fresh

Of course, we harpists are creatures of habit, and seem to have an overwhelming tendency to start playing in C major (or C-flat major) before venturing to any of the many other accessible keys. I would like to offer a challenge to you: freshen your routine by playing your warm ups in a different key each day.

This is especially good for chordal warm ups, which will challenge you to think of chord relationships in new ways. For example, one of my warm-up routines is to use variations of the finger independence exercises published in volume 2 of the Renié Complete Method for the Harp. Rather than playing these in C-flat major as written, I often transpose these to whatever key corresponds with my current repertoire project, aiding my note fluency in whatever piece I happen to be preparing.

Similarly, in practicing scales, I will often play scales in new ways such as in contrary motion, using thumb slides, using different beat accents, or using only 2 fingers (such as 3-2-3-2 while playing the same scale with 4-3-4-3 with the other hand). You can also change up the rhythms to exercises, especially by adding advanced polyrhythms of 2 versus 3, 3 versus 4, or 4 versus 5.

Take a Page From Piano Lessons

As a young piano student (before I started harp lessons), I recall my teacher’s requirement to learn I-IV-I-V-I cadences in every key, at the start of each lesson. It wasn’t until many years later, as I sat in my college freshman music theory class, that I finally understood her rationale. These theory-strengthening exercises (and others) can be practiced at the harp just as they are practiced at the piano and serve a double-purpose as theory study and warm ups.

Another one you can try is to play all of the major triads moving up the diatonic scale by changing the appropriate levers or pedals: C major triad, D major triad (move F-sharp), E major triad (move G-sharp), F major triad (move F-natural), G major triad (move G-natural), A major triad (move C-sharp), B major triad (move F-sharp and D-sharp), and returning to C Major (move C-natural). Lever harpists could play the chords with one hand while the other hand adjusts the levers according to the harp tuning. This type of practice strengthens not only your lever or pedal technique, but also your theoretical understanding of the harp.

Cool Down

As harpists, we tend to put more emphasis on warm ups, and not enough on cool downs. Any elite athlete would tell you that cool-downs are just as important (or more important) than warm ups, because going from full speed to stopped can damage muscles and tendons and can also be difficult mentally. Before you leave the practice bench, your muscles should be completely relaxed and pain-free. The transition out of your practice should mimic your transition into practice.

According to Dr. Surve, the time to gently stretch muscles is at the end of practice or between practice sessions, as long as you are free of injury (stretching an injury can lead to more injury). If an area of your hands or arms feels tight, gentle massage or circular movements can aid the transition out of practice. Drink some water and have some energy-rich food. Mentally, you can use this time to reflect on your practice session, what was accomplished, and what you plan to accomplish in the next session so that you are prepared to start the practice cycle again.

Now that your grocery basket is full of fresh, organic warm up strategies, put together some bold new flavors and add some spice to your routine. Your warm ups might just become a favorite part of your practice time!