One area that music students (as well as working musicians!) tend to ignore is stretching. Musicians are, in fact, small muscle athletes. It is important to take care of those delicate muscles that we have, not only to prevent repetitive strain injuries, but to ensure that we can enjoy making music for many years.
Here's a quick video from my Practicing Music 101 series
with seven warm-up stretches for the hands, arms and shoulders:
Check out my articles on Suite101 about
,
and
for more information. Happy practicing!