A Quick Warmup for the Left Hand

Sometimes we need to warmup in a hurry. When I need to warmup in two minutes or less I do exercises like the ones below. Some things to remember when doing these:

  1. Start slowly and speed up as you go
  2. Keep the fingers light and flexible, don’t press any harder than necessary
  3. Don’t’ go any faster than feels easy, slow down if you start getting tight, then speed up again
  4. Release the fingers you are not using to press the string down
  5. Keep the thumb flexible
  6. Never Strain
  7. Concentrate on Freedom of motion in the knuckles especially
  8. Don’t spend more than a minute on either one

The first exercise for the lower positions:
Left hand warmup - exercise 1

The second exercise for thumb position:
Left hand warmup - exercise 2

Give them a try next time you are pressed for warmup time.

Dr. Donovan Stokes is on the faculty of Shenandoah University-Conservatory. Visit him online at www.donovanstokes.com and check out the Bass Coalition at www.basscoalition.com.

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