All that Jazz w/Mike Stern - Learn to Burn - April 2013

The following content is related to the April 2013 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store:http://store.guitarworld.com/collecti...

Hello, and welcome to my new column for Guitar World. I'd like to begin this series of columns with a look at a topic all guitar players face on a daily basis: how to warm up in ways that are both physically effective and musically rewarding.

Most of the time, I warm up just by playing. I usually start with single-note lines, played in time, and move freely around the fretboard. Often, I'll start each day with a bunch of stuff that I had been working on the night before. I'm always trying to learn, because each new bit of knowledge and skill offers a path to greater musical sounds and ideas. For that reason, I'll often work on new musical ideas while warming up physically by putting on a metronome and freely riffing over the beat.