A short YouTube clip by Lauren Bateman giving practical warm-up exercises for guitar students—especially those over 50 or with arthritis—to increase finger mobility and blood flow before playing. Suggestions include squeezing the hands to pump blood into the fingers, tapping fingertips back-and-forth on a flat surface or tabletop (demonstrated on the guitar), using a heat warmer, and light stretching prior to practicing.
So a lot of students who have arthritis in their hands. Most of my students are over the age of 50, and I farm. What can I do to warm up? Some great warm ups you can do without even having to touch the guitar. The first is to just take your hands and squeeze them. Get the blood flowing into the fingers. The other thing, and you can do it on a tabletop. I'll do it on my guitar. Here is just to take your fingers and tap them. Okay. Tap them back and forth on a flat surface. Again, we're just trying to get our fingers moving, get our blood flowing. You guys can do this to warm without touching the guitar or if you have a heat warmer. A lot of my students with arthritis said they love putting their hands in a heat warmer, stretching out a little bit, and then practicing their guitar.
