Carl Snow's 'Guitar Warm Up & Cool Down Exercises'

Carl Snow's 'Guitar Warm Up & Cool Down Exercises'
Whether you are a beginner with only 5 or so years of playing under your belt, an absolute beginner with less than 3 or a professional guitarist/musician one simple fact is true of all guitarists :
We all need to warm-up
We all need to cool-down

Here, I have condensed my personal approach to this from 1-hour to two 5-minute videos (with text to aid you)
This is meant to spark ideas in your head, not to tell you to warm up just like I do. Take what you will from the approach and leave what you do not need.

I didn’t want to ‘clutter’ a simple thing such as warming-up and cooling down with too many descriptions, explanations and such, so I placed the bulk of that in embedded annotations on the Videos. It is my hope that you will have questions and that I will be able to answer them in a helpful way, so…

If you would like to know:
“What’s that riff (run/lick)?” - ”What’s that Mode, Triad, Chord-etc’ – “How do you do that?” – “Why do you do ‘___’?” or any other question/comment PLEASE ask … I will be happy to answer
It’s all about growth and learning (and practicing !)

On a Technical note: You may want to Full screen the vids to read the annotations more easily.

RAWK!
Cs

Carl Snow - Guitar Warm Up & Cool Down Exercise PT I



Carl Snow - Guitar Warm Up & Cool Down Exercise PT II





RAWK!

@Carl,
Wow!
Warming up? more like you are on fire my friend! Those videos give me a new burst of inspiration to work harder.
Thanks man,
Phip

you are more than welcome Phipster!!! ...I'm glad i helped you find a new spark.
Cs

6:28 LOL... nice vids man! So heres teh questions, and mine are always pretty stupid... Do you decide what note you play before the chord like in first vid in 1:25 ended up the chord 1:32?

Other thing, when you improvising, do you just let it flow or do you think what or where you play ahead or before you play there and if so, is it based on chord progression (chord structure) you played (improvised) at start?

Cheers!
Empirism

@ Empirism



Thank You ! …It was my first (chopped in half, lol).



If you mean the thing resolving to that A7 …Yes. (I’m still not sure I understood this question) All the seeming(not)ly ‘free jazz’, lol, runs were consciously and very intentionally aimed at resolving to THE chord, and by THE chord (A7), I mean the chord that I will, from there-on out, mentally “call” the KEY. I find it immensely helpful to (sometimes I actually roll dice for this, lol) begin the process of warming –up/cooling-down (W/C) with a pre determined key in mind, at times an entire progression, such at these Vids being based on a simple I-V-IV-VI-V(twisted many ways) in A. This is really helpful to me as it forces me to expand on it and not have ‘free reign’ over the entire neck, thus FORCING me to play runs that are tonally interesting but can be distilled back to the most basic tonal movements and then RE-expanded and played with and improvised on remembering its source… that first A7 and its Progression. Mind you I DO change all of this most every time (like the video, it’s A7 due to it, lol, being attempt #3 at recording; Emin7 and Bm had gone just 30-40 minutes ago, lol, as I checked the camera)
But regardless of the circumstance that brings you to begin, or begin again. When I stop W/C #1 I try and make it a point to change Keys, Progressions and the like for the next; in my case this would be W/C for 40-min to 1-hr prior to beginning my ‘serious practice’ routine. When I finish ‘serious practice’ I repeat the W/C BUT I always change key and , if any, progressions; and like Vid-1 + Vid-2… of those I intended #2 to be the second, or rather, the Cool-Down, Dig?


Both…
I know what all the Notes-etc on the Fretboard ‘sound like’ in my head before I play them so its more of a dance “let it flow” out of me freely but subconsciously and/or consciously as I do this “it” wishes, where “it” leads me and know how to get there, if that’s what you mean



This, I also call Key or CENTER (having a center is a must when improvising, as remembering where it is will save your arse from falling apart like a goof.

If I didn’t get you question(s) ‘right’ holler back and I’ll try again.


RAWK!
Cs

Woah! Carl I just had to say I love how lost you look in it. I mean, I know you're just warming up, but I htink its amazing how stuck into it you get. I ususally just grin like an idiot when I stumble across something I like and keep going over the same part for ages, and they never even sound half as good as any of that.

Thanks for the inspiration, and offering the oppertunity for me to ask any questions. Only my minds pretty blank! I bet I'll think of something I want to ask about later though, and then yell my curses because I didn't think of anything earlier. Ah well.

Thanks again, you RAWK! :P

Cool!, thanks for the replies man, these very helpful. And when I see that you dont mind about dumb questions heres couple more :D.



Yeah, I just meant that in my question, but more specific.. the last note of run before THE chord, lets say if you think a chord in intervals like 1 3 5, do you aim last note of run to 3rd forexample, or just the note that do not belong to THE chord or do it matter at all?



Dang, this is a thing I dont fully understand. Ive stumbled on this "tonal" thing before, but I dont figure it out or just I dun know where to start on this. I have strong feeling that I should start learning this next on my progress.



and this you mean position? or whole scale in that key?

Thanks for your time in this, helped me much. respect.
Empirism

Cool videos!! at last i can hear you play! Now how about some original songs into the Tube or some Jams? thats would be awesome

great videos. I look forward to any jams or songs he makes they should be awesome.

Empirism

If I feel I’ve gone really, lol, “out” , yes , I may ‘check myself’, sure; but most of the time its simply knowing the sound of the fretboard.
Let me clear that statement up for anyone out there, other than Empirism who may be wondering what does he MEAN the ‘sound of the fretboard’.
I mean just that. After playing 35 or so years and practicing, playing venues, and recording, you can ‘hear’ your instrument clearly in you head, as you would your, wife-sister-brother-mother’s voice. At times one can basically play a run mentally prior to physically in this way, HOWEVER (a big however) ; at times we lose ourselves in the moment an find we have drifted in to “dangerous’ territory, when appropriate we explore, when trying to get “back to that damned A7” from afar, we, or I do the following: 1) keep cool 2) look for a SAFE (dreaded word!) piece of sonic real estate that we know and attempt to BRIDGE the “out” into “back”. Usually a note or four will surround the goal; I aim at the interval in those four notes that pleases me the best. Still, and especially when playing faster speeds than the moderately-fast paced runs on the Videos, It helps to know that you wont have to solely rely on your ear every time. So memorize every Modal run in the known universe, lol, and in doing so day by day your ears and fingers will agree on what sound is where.




I agree.
A simple start is to taker the furthest-out sounding(to the key) run-mode-etc and work off of it into ‘the abyss’ coming up for air now and again… THEN! Force yourself to melodically resolve the run into the Tune’s tonal center.

Quick Suggestion.
Play a G (old open G) .. now play the Lydian to that G (C-Lydian) and ‘keep going’ combining various intervals and such until you are almost ‘out of tune’ and sounding ‘out’ (on an improvisational jag) wait until you think you are going to ‘lose it’ (the tune) and recall something warm and familiar like G’s relative minor, E(minor) ‘bail’ to IT so you’re not sounding rushed—THEN resolve in G.
Easy and fun as hell!



and this you mean position? or whole scale in that key?

By that I mean the ‘tonal center as one’; meaning both, as you said, the “whole scale in that Key” as well as the Key itself, relative minors and all.

Thanks for your time in this, helped me much. respect.

No problem – its what we’re here for.
(And a great break between students, lol)



Thanks Alex!
Right now I have nothing (some funny guest appearances) but two tunes from a “where the hell is the soundman!!” show a few years back, lol.

I have now gotten out from the label Big World(NYC) and asked my new label, Lynn Point to put my last (2006?) “Solo”(‘I get by with a LOTTA help from my friends’) CD, ‘Useless’ out for free download in both Lossy-MP3 and Lossless-Wav formats, Since they will soon be putting out my NEW record soon. (The art Is downloadable as well)
Lynn Point Records Link = http://www.lynnpoint.com/
My page there = http://lynnpoint.com/carl_snow/index.htm

My Ambient and Electronic and Orchestral stuff is on Ampient Records, or soon will be – In other words I just agreed/signed with them, have done a Guitar Loop show for them and am on the 1st sampler. All that JUST happened and I have 5 or so CDs coming out ON
Ampient Records Link =
http://www.ampientmusic.com/

Sorry State Records has re-issued (I Re-Mastered for them) Three Items From 1982 and 1983 :
Koro – 700 Club Ep (colored Vinyl) (originals go for over 800-900 bucks each on EBay, still, lol)
As well as Koro – ‘Speed Kills’ Lp (Colored Vinyl w/ interview)
And a CD of the above.
They and Lynn Point Records will be taking my 'back catalog'

I’m holding a lot of this stuff close to the chest so it doesn’t screw a deal BUT since carlsnow.com is being re-done by the label, i'm down to:
a listening post on ILike
Carl Snow Music –
http://apps.facebook.com/ilike/artist/Carl+Snow
and , of course
YouTube
http://www.myspace.com/carlsnowmusic
and
Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1068901108&ref=profile

Thanks for the Kind comments and curiosity concerning my tunes, Alex!

And I hope these latest explanations helped, Empirism

And…
As always…

RAWK!
Cs

Carl that's awesomee! It was all improvised right?

thanks Nightmare ! I'm glad you liked it! and yes, it was (my warm ups always are) 95% improvised (take 5% away due to the fun little E-major finger-picking part)

RAWK!
Cs

Carl as always very impressive

dang, i wish i could play like that when i'm fully warmed up. great job

Hell yeah Carl :D Awesome stuff :D

Do you still want to add this into the lessons section instead of it just being a topic?

Yer the Boss Jazzy! but yeah, that'd be cool! ;-)