Warm Up's - Rudiments

[Mojuba66]

Someone please, suggest or share with me , what type of warm up's u do before playing or before practice ?

[vaconguero]

Hey Mojuba,

There are tons of worthwhile excercises to do once you sit down behind your drums, and most of them work well enough, but I'm going to focus on the warmup before you touch your congas. First, make sure you have good circulation (hands especially)and that your skin is warm - as a general rule, I injure myself much less frequently the more veins I can see. This second bit may be psychological, but I think I get a fuller sound the more blood is in my hands (none of this would be a big problem if you have naturally very high blood pressure or live where it is always warm). Coincidentally, I find that a slightly salty and/or oily meal helps me feel more like playing.
Next, several days before a big show, start greasing your hands up - you can prevent splits and feel better while playing. And now, in case you think that all the previous stuff was just a bunch of bunk, I'll toss in a few patterns.

alternating hands, play:

hhtthhtthhtthhtt, starting very slowly, and moving gradually up to very fast, then back down, but never loosing the smooth baqueteo motion.

also, still alternating hands:

OOOOSSSSPPPPMMMM,


(P = palm, or bass if you prefer)
focusing on producing identical sounds in right and left hands, and making the same movement through the tempos.

Next, a double stroke roll:

rrllrrllrrllrrll
hthththththththt

and a series of short rolls in 6/8:

rrllr_llrrl_rrllr_llrrl_
hthtS_hthtS_hthtS_hthtS_

and a triplet roll:

llrllrllrllrllrllrllrlrlrrlrrlrrlrrlrrlrrlrrlrlr
htOhtShtOhtShtOhtShtSSSShtOhtShtOhtShtOhtShtSSSS

copy these and paste into wordpad or something - if you put them in courier font, they'll line up.

I need to cite for the last one Dr Arvin Scott, via the LPmusic homepage, where there are several more like this and some other usefull ones. Also, of course, the excercises section on our own congabook - there are alot of ideas there.

Hope this helps,

Lee

[congastu]

Giovanni Hidalgos "mano a mano" video has a whole section full of very good warm up ideas- some for flexibility and independence, others to stretch the tendons and more again to increase strength and endurance.
Also, dont forget to breathe deeply and sit or stand upright in a comfortable position. Meditation and visualisation of patterns is good training in itself. The more relaxed and in the zone you are before you train or perform, the more your fluency and musicality will improve. Exercises from tai chi and other martial arts can be very rewarding, too and will help to offset "rust", ie, unnecessary muscle tension that can lead to tendonitis, tennis elbow, RSI,etc.
Good luck!!
Stu

[Mojuba66]

Thanks a lots!
Conga

[Mojuba66]

your suggestions are very useful!

:;):