Designed for the beginner flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and saxophone players!
Over the past few months, I have been expanding the free music resources available on my website for woodwind players and teachers. I am excited to share that this now includes warm-up exercises specifically designed for beginner musicians. My goal was to create a simple set of warm-ups that support beginner woodwind players when practising at home. Whether you begin lessons in a school band program or through a private studio, these resources are created to help beginner musicians cultivate good tone and intonation, refine their note reading, enhance rhythmic accuracy, and develop articulation skills.
Many music teachers start lessons or rehearsals with warm up activities and focusing on fundamentals. It is a great way to focus your mind for playing, calm the breath, check that the instrument is working and think about making a great sound on the instrument before playing your pieces. We often rush in to our rehearsals or individual lessons straight from another class or activity without having any down time. This means we carry the built-up stress from the day into the rehearsal space. We want to use the warm-ups as a good way to slow the breath, relax and reduce some of the tension in our bodies before playing more challenging music. Time after time, musicians who start their practice session with a series of warm-up activities tend to have a more productive rehearsal and perform their pieces at a higher standard.
Having used a wide variety of warm up activities in my own teaching for many years I wanted to start creating ready-made free resources of my own for my music community. On my website page https://passionateaboutmusiceducation.com/essential-warm-ups-for-woodwind-players/ you will find the free pdf sheet music for the first three warm-ups. The booklets include a full score and individual parts for flute, oboe, bassoon, clarinet, alto, tenor and baritone saxophone. This means that you can play the parts by yourself or with other woodwind players. These resources are ideal for music teachers to use within the classroom, in the band room or in their private studios.
When learning a new musical instrument, there are several skills to master. Many young woodwind players struggle with reading, especially when it comes to rhythm patterns. The exercises I have been creating teach students to play simple melodic ideas alongside basic rhythm patterns commonly found in early solos and band music. Rhythmic accuracy and good note reading are essential for excelling as both a soloist and a band member. Having ready-made warm-up exercises for private practice will significantly enhance success in the early stages.
For each warm-up set, I have created a set of play-along videos to go with the work booklets for you to try out. Each instrument has two warm up videos – one with a metronome and one without. This way you can get used to having the metronome help with timing and counting accuracy, and then when you feel more confident, you can move on to counting accurately for yourself without the help of the metronome. The Youtube channel is called Music Theory Made Simple and you get to the link here: https://www.youtube.com/@musictheorymadesimple
The first three warm-up pdfs and video links are on the new resources page on our website and I have added the accompanying work booklets for you to download for free.
I hope you find the videos and work booklets helpful! Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletters to keep up with all the latest news and free resources.