Instrumentalists of all skill levels need to warm up to play their best. Warming up and performing exercises regularly will improve your speed, technique, and knowledge of your instrument.


Tune your instrument every time you play so that you learn the correct notes for the song.
Try new scales and rhythms in different keys and tempos to prepare for new songs.
Take care of your instrument with new strings, reeds, drum heads, etc. so that you get the sound you want.
 You should be familiar with the entire song, but you need to know your instrument's part like the back of your hand. Search the internet for a copy of the song without any vocals, if applicable.


Playing with your music player's equalizer can help isolate your instrument. Pump up the bass, or turn up the treble to hear the drums.
 The snare drum is often easiest to hear, so learn the whole snare drum rhythm first. Then add the ride cymbal rhythm, then move on to the kick drum, etc.


Get the basic rhythm down before trying any wild solos or drum fills.
 Most songs are composed of several bars of music that are repeated many times. Once you know a few "building blocks" of the song you can learn these separately and combine them later.


Most parts are either 1,2,4, or 8 bars longs.
Different parts of songs (verses, choruses, bridges, solos) often have slightly different parts that repeat. Learn each part individually.
 To make sure that you can play the song cleanly and without mistakes, start practicing the song around half the tempo you eventually want to play it. As you get comfortable, speed up your play while practicing.A metronome is an invaluable way to practice your rhythm and work your way up to the right tempo.
 This let's you hear if you played each part correctly or missed notes. If you can gather some musicians together, play the song with a full band, where can play your instrument without any guidance or support.
 Improvisation is the act of spontaneously composing new parts over an established song, and is the best way to know if you can play a song. By taking inspiration from the song and adding your own spin, you deepen your connection to the song and make it your own. Remember-- you need to stay in the same key and keep the same rhythm.


Scales are collections of notes that sound good together and are the basis for melody solos and improvisation. Play around with a scale in the correct key to start improvising. The most common scales in modern music are the major scale and the minor pentatonic.
If you keep the same number of beats you can change the speed by doubling or tripping your percussion hits. For example, if a song is in 4/4 (4 beats to a measure), you can play "double time" by playing twice as many notes in the same rhythm, making 8/4.
Play around to the original song. If you have a recording of the song, play it in the background while you try to invent new parts over the top of it.
Perform warm up and technical exercises to improve your play.
Listen to the song 3-4 times paying specific attention to your instrument.
For percussionists, add one drum at a time to help you learn the song quickly.
Figure out the song's pattern.
Start practicing at a slower tempo, then build up speed.
Play your instrument along with the original song.
Improvise new lines over what you've learned.
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