You know that feeling you get when you are just sitting around your house and flippin' through the channels, only to come across a VH1 behind the music of someone awfully cool that plays guitar like a god? Then did you get that funny feeling in the pit of your little guitarist tummy that just makes you want to immediately go into the room your guitar is in, close and lock the door, crank up your amp, and procede to put on the most epic concert that tiny bedroom ever did see? well hold on just a minute pal! YOU CAN ROCK HARDER, LONGER, MORE ACCURATELY if you wqarm up for a couple minutes first!
     Warm ups are very important, even if you  are just going to play around for a little while. They allow you to play longer, more comfortably, more accurately, faster, and just overall BETTER! as well, if you are a gigging guitarist, especially in a cold climate, you have most likely gotten a bit nervous before your show because you pick up your guitar with the purpose of warming up and your hands are so cold you can hardly move! well... here are a few steps you can take to avoid anything bad happening and make your playing experience better and more enjoyable...
#1- KEEP THE PAWS WARM!- this is a must if you are going to play a show, you cant expect to shred with iceicles drooping from your digits. that being said, the WORST thing you can do to keep your hands warm before a show is soak them in warm or hot water! sure, you will warm your hands, but you will also soften your skin right before you are going to be playing your heart out for 45 minutes to an hour... and that means you can say goodbye to your calases and hello to DR.not-so-feelgood. the best thing to do is keep gloves on (even if you are inside) or use a heatpack, car heater vent, or any other non-wet method of heating.
#2- START SLOW!- when it is time to grab your axe and pretend you are dave mustaine, avoid trying to be dave mustain.... at least for a minute or two. start out playing slowly and work the speed up over a couple minutes.
#3-PLAY SOMETHING NOT TO STRESSFUL!- start out playing easy, rudimentary excersizes just to start your right and left hand working together. below are a few different Tabs for very simple excersizes that many of you may have played, and many of you thought were stupid. well, i know everyone is entitled to their opinion, but you are wrong. these excersizes are the basis for everything you  need to do on the guitar. and if you give them 10 - 15 minutes worth of time per day, you will see much better coordination between hands and you will be saying "Gosh, thank you so much SATAN, you were so right!"
#4- Stretchy poo!- stretch your fingers! not only right before you play but occasionally during the day, every day. over time you will see that these help a lot with doing those pesky long stretch chords and arpegios.
 
Here are some fancy Tabs! note that berfore each one , it says "beginner", "intermediate", or "expert". this is to prevent brand new guitarists from trying a long stretch excersise that could end up hurting them... so here is my disclaimer.... DO NOT ATTEMPT TO PLAY ANYTHING THAT YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE DOING, AND IF AT ANY TIME YOU  EXPERIENCE ANY PAIN IN YOUR HAND, WRIST OR ARM, IMMEDIATELY STOP PLAYING AND REST YOUR LIMBS!
BEGINNER
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 INTERMEDIATE
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