The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 094 Warming Up with Dr. Renée-Paule Gauthier

Episode Date: March 19, 2021

In this third episode of my series on building an amazing practice routine I share my favorite tips on how to create an effective warm up regimen. I also offer you another priming guided visualization exercise. Enjoy!     Frustrated with your playing?  Unsatisfied with you career?  Ready for a change? Whatever your challenge, you don't have to go at it alone, and I can help.    THE MUSIC MASTERY EXPERIENCE is back in June 2021 This is a LIFE CHANGING, highly personalized group coaching program where I show you how to implement mindful & effective practice techniques, how to make them habits, and get RESULTS! The Music Mastery Experience gives you all the tools you need to elevate your performance Save your spot at http://www.mindoverfinger.com/mme and get access to all the early bird bonuses     THANK YOU: A HUGE thank you to my fantastic producer, Bella Kelly, who works really hard to make this podcast as pleasant to listen to as possible for you! Most sincere thank you to composer Jim Stephenson who graciously provided the show's musical theme!  Concerto #1 for Trumpet and Chamber Orchestra – Movement 2: Allegro con Brio, performed by Jeffrey Work, trumpet, and the Lake Forest Symphony, conducted by Jim Stephenson. Thank you to Susan Blackwell for the introduction!  You can find out more about Susan, her fantastic podcast The Spark File, and her work helping creatives of all backgrounds expand their impact by visiting https://www.susanblackwell.com/home.   MIND OVER FINGER: www.mindoverfinger.com https://www.facebook.com/mindoverfinger/ https://www.instagram.com/mindoverfinger/

You're listening to The Mind Over Finger Podcast, episode number 94. Welcome to The Mind Over Finger Podcast, discussions on mindful music making, efficient practice and building a purposeful career. And now your host, violinist, teacher and high performance coach, Dr. Renée-Paul Gaultier. Hi, everyone. I hope you're doing amazingly well today. As you might know by now, if you've been listening to the podcast, this winter, I'm bringing you a series of four episodes all about building your amazing practice every third Friday of the month. In this series, I'm covering many of the components that I believe help create the type of practice that

leads to not only more productivity and progress, but also to more enjoyment of the whole process itself. I talk about planning and scheduling, priming for an efficient practice, building an effective warm-up regimen, and finally, I'll take you through my favorite practice session breakdown. Today, we talk about warming up, but I'm also going to expand that to include some aspect of the technique regimen as well because they're so intricately intertwined. For me, warming up starts with the intention of easing the body into action gently, but also efficiently. You know that I begin with priming because you listened to the previous episode of this series, so warming up is the natural unfolding of things for me. Now, the thing with warm-up is that it can look like

anything and everything. If you ask 50 different people, they'll swear by 50 different kinds of warm-up regimens. So what are we supposed to do? I'm going to start by saying this about warming up. Whatever you do, you can't mess it up. I tell my clients this all the time. I mean, okay, maybe that's a little bit of a lie. If you grab your instrument or sit at the keyboard and just go mindlessly through the motions, then there's definitely room to mess a lot of things up and build up a whole bunch of bad habits and waste a bunch of time. But if you go in there, you walk in the practice room with the intention of being mindful and present,

you're paying attention, you're curious, and you have clarity of purpose, you can't mess it up. I think a good place to start is with priming. Again, catch episode 91 if you haven't already. And in your priming, ask yourself this question, what is my purpose in today's session? Once you have a clear idea of what you're going after, get playing. The second thing I want to say about warming up before I jump in the details is this, please, please, please do not skip your warmup.

we have so much to do and we're in a hurry and it's so easy to feel like we need to jump into the action right away but that's the best way to slow down your progress and even worse get injured so whatever you do make sure you get into the habit of warming up of really making sure that all of your muscles, joints, ligaments, all of this is really ready for the work. Think long term. Warming up is one of the best ways to anchor your progress and prevent injuries. What you're doing when you warm up is you're strengthening yourself and you will save time in your practice because the mechanics are going to be working at optimal level. One of my favorite quote is from Abraham Lincoln, and he says, give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first

four sharpening the axe. If you work with me, you've heard this quote many times. It's so good. Now, I don't mean for you to spend four hours warming up and working on technique here, but you want to spend some time making sure that all the mechanisms are good to go, all the muscles are warm, and you've maximized your body for efficient practice. I'll start by sharing with you what I like, then I'll add some suggestions. I have what I would call a modular routine. There are things I like to do when I first pick up the instrument, and there are elements I want to cover, both in my warm-up and in my technique routine.

The specifics might change from day to day, depending on what I have to do that day and how much time I have, but the modules tend to stay pretty much the same. I like to start with some slow and mindful long tones to gently open up my bow arm and open up my sound. This can look like open strings or long notes with vibrato, some Simon Fisher exercises. There are so many options. Then I like to do some exercises to get my left hand going. And again, I have a long list of exercises that I like for this. Dexterity drills, shifting exercises. So many choices. And I'll usually start things slowly and build up to faster tempi. By then, the warm-up portion morphs into more of a technique regimen. I have a scale and arpeggio

cycle acceleration routine that I love to do. So if there's time, I'm definitely doing that. And in that cycle, I also throw in vibrato and bow exercises. After that, I like to do some double stops. For all of these modules or these elements of technique, I have multiple sources of drills and exercises. Of course, I have my favorites that I go back to often, but I try to keep it engaging and stimulating by mixing things up. It can be the same routine and exercises for a few weeks, or it can change every day. It really depends on what's needed that day, that week, that month. What I love about creating a modular routine is that it's stable yet flexible. Stable because I cover all of the elements I think are essential for me to stay in shape,

but it's flexible, so it keeps it interesting, motivating, and stimulating. Now here's a little reality check. We rarely have the time to complete a perfect warm-up or technique regimen. When that's the case, there are many options. Ask yourself how you can best combine exercises to cover all the elements you want to address. This is when we can get really creative. An example of that is, let's say, during a non-COVID years, an early morning orchestra rehearsal. If you have kids, you might have to get them ready for school. Then you might be stuck in traffic for a while and you get to work 20 minutes before rehearsal. There's a way to get warmed up in 20 minutes or less.

Here's what I could try. One really slow scale with wide vibrato where I focus both on high tone quality production and loosening up the joints of my left hand. then maybe I'll move on to a four octave scale where I speed up the tempo every octaves then maybe I'll do two octave arpeggios on one string changing the speed and fingerings on each string and if there's time I'll pick a challenging passage from the orchestra part and go through that slowly a few times then see how I'm doing a tempo staying super mindful of my physical comfort All of that could take about 10 to 15 minutes, and I start the rehearsal feeling physically ready.

So there are many ways to warm up in a short amount of time. As I said earlier, every single musician has a different approach to warming up. I strongly encourage you to spend some time researching what could work for you, experimenting. There are several great articles out there you can find with an easy Google search. And if you want to hear more about what some of the Mind Over Finger podcast artists do to warm up, you can catch the episode with Denise Tryon and with Leila Josifovic, and you can see how specific they are with their warm-ups. There's no magic formula to create the perfect warm-up or technique regimen, and that's the beauty of it. Be mindful about it. Ask yourself questions.

Look at your priorities. explore experiment think of ways to make it personal meaningful and ultra efficient and guess what it might work even better for you if you can figure out ways to enjoy everything about it i'll say it again if you're mindful about it you can't mess it up don't be afraid to commit to a consistent routine or to explore and change it all the time whatever works for you If you're not sure where to start, grab a piece of paper and make a list of the different aspects that you think would be good to cover before you launch yourself into active work. What physical elements might be beneficial to ease into? Which parts of your body might require some attention

and what drills would be particularly efficient at getting everything working optimally? what might be a good sequence of events for a warm-up or a technique regimen that would prepare you for solid practice what elements of your technique do you want to work on short term and what do you want to build over time is there anything specifically related to a piece you're working on right now that you could insert in your technique regimen start asking yourself these questions, find the answers, then start thinking about specific exercises that target those areas of your body or your technique and build a menu of possible exercises, different options for all of those different elements. You can even do like me. I have so many different books

and different photocopies of all sorts of stuff I've gotten from everywhere and I've compiled all of my favorite ones in one folder where I can easily access them at all times. So if I have decision fatigue when it comes to picking an exercise, I just go through my book and sure enough, one will be calling my name. So when it's time to practice and you have a good idea of what your modular routine is, ask yourself, how much time do I have? What do I want to build for the long term? And what would best serve my needs today? What would prepare me for the work physically and mentally? What would ignite my interest? And how can I execute it in a way that is interesting, stimulating, and enjoyable for me? Once you have those answers, start playing.

And I would like to say this again about a warm-up and a practice regimen. You can truly make it enjoyable and interesting. Warming up and working on your technique is truly for yourself. A slow warm-up can at times feel like a meditation practice in some ways. And practicing your technique is not just about going through the motions because you think you have to. There's real comfort in knowing that every single note you play builds your skills and gives you more abilities to translate your emotions and your message into music. If you're present and you really make the effort to be engaged in your technical work,

your progress will be more rapid and you will enjoy the process tremendously. now as promised in the last episode of this series i've prepared another visualization exercise for you it's going to play here at the end of the episode and i'm also making it available by itself for download if you'd like to be able to access it easily regularly you can find that in the resources page of my website at mindoverfinger.com slash resources in the priming episode, the exercise I shared with you is a very calming and centering one. And this time, I'm offering you one that can be helpful for those days where you feel like you need a little bit of a boost of energy before you start practicing. It combines some elements of the mindfulness

practice I like, some pranayama, and a little bit of the centering up technique taught by Dr. Don green. But before we get settled and comfortable for visualization, I want to remind you that Early Sign Up has started for the Music Mastery Experience, my life-changing, highly personalized group coaching program. Over the course of three months, I take you through a massive transformation in your music making. We cover tangible, effective practice and performance preparation techniques, And I give you a real process to reach peak performance for those auditions and those concerts that are coming back and to truly enjoy the entire experience of making music. So if you have big dreams, big plans, and you're ready for more in your musical life, book a call today and let's make it happen. In the Music Mastery Experience, you can get exactly what you need to create your ideal music-making experience, whether it's winning an audition, performing optimally time after time, leveling up your career, or exploring new areas of your playing and finding more meaning and enjoyment in the process.

I like to keep the group very small, so there are going to be a limited number of spots. We start June 1st, and it's not too early to save your spot. And by signing up now, you get access to all the early access bonuses. So go to mindoverfinger.com slash MME, book a conversation with me, and let's talk. And now let's get to our guided visualization exercise. So I invite you to settle in for a few moments. We're going to take some time to get grounded, get aligned, get energized, and get ready for the wonderful work ahead. So please come to a standing position, feeling comfortable with your feet hip-width apart, your arms hanging by your sides, your spine elongated, and your knees unlocked.

feel a gentle smile on your lips and let your gaze fall gently a couple of feet in front of you and let your eyes be soft in focus if that feels good to you maybe sway gently left to right until you find a comfortable balance and you feel stable in your stance

and start to turn your awareness to the flow of your breath and start noticing it. Noticing the inhales and the exhales. Feeling the air going in and out of your nostrils. Feeling your ribcage expand

and contract over each breath cycle. and we're going to use this flow of breath to make this connection between our mind and our body very vivid remaining balanced on your feet bring your chin up slightly as though you're soaking in the sun and begin breathing more purposefully in a few seconds we're going to begin inhaling fully through the nose for a count of two and pushing the air out through the mouth by bringing the navel towards the spine

let's begin inhale through the nose for two exhale through the mouth for two feel your lungs for two exhale through the mouth for two contracting the belly in for two out for two in in and out. Continue breathing mindfully with a soft smile, chin up, soaking up the sun, in for two out for two continuing to breathe

feel the energy rising up your spine and spreading throughout your body and still breathing feel positivity reaching every part of your body and continue breathing with purpose, in for two, out through the mouth for two, and letting your breath go back to a natural flow, in and out through the nose, maybe slowing it down a bit, start visualizing yourself playing, feeling wonderful with energy, with purpose.

Imagine comfortable movements and efficiency. Feel vitality spreading through you and imagine yourself enjoying immensely the experience of playing the instrument. And as you do that, be aware of your positive attitude, your curiosity, your ability to handle anything that comes your way in this session.

smiling soaking in the sun imagine yourself solving problems with clarity and patience take one deep inhale feeling positive energy and enthusiasm flowing up your spine and as you exhale fully, release expectations and welcome the musical experience you're about to have in its entirety. And there you have it. I hope this was helpful.

that's it for today guys thanks for tuning in and à bientôt