Warm Ups and Other Routines

Warm ups are one of the most essential things when it comes to playing guitar. I cannot start a practice without warming up, or I won't be able to play fluently and well. When I first started playing guitar, I tried to warmup using scales - like a lot of guitarists do. Unfortunately this didn't work for me, so I tend to warmup playing some of the trickiest songs I know. I usually warm up with AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck', as it is a fast paced song with a  LOT of hammer ons and pull offs, these warm up the fingers and get them ready to play. I also like to warm up with Buddy Holly's 'That'll Be The Day' and Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B. Goode'. These pieces contrast in technicality and make the warm up well rounded and beneficial. By this, I mean that I have played all types of music - 'Thunderstruck' is a fast, repetitive riff, 'Johnny B. Goode' is also quite fast, but requires me to play up and down the fretboard, whereas 'Thunderstruck' is just on one string. 'That'll Be The Day' has a complex lick at the start, and is mostly chords - so I can be ready to play chords during my rehearsals.

Once I have warmed up, I tend to get straight on with the piece that I'm practicing. For example, last night I warmed up for a good 10 minutes, tuning up and making sure that I was ready to rehearse before jumping into 'Sultans of Swing' for an hour and a half. It is essential for me to warm up so that my fingers don't hurt after practicing. If they are sore, I can't play well for two or three days, and that isn't an option at this stage.

After playing, I tend to warm down with some basic chords, I will usually just improvise a blues solo in B, I always end with a little blues riff that ends the solo nicely.
I always clean my strings after playing using Lemon Oil, it makes the strings smooth and ready for the next rehearsal.

Below are some examples of the songs I warmup with:
Thunderstruck:

Guitar 1
e|------------------------------------|--------------------------------|
B|--0h4p0h7p0h4p0h7p0h4p0h7p0h4p0h7p0h|4p0h7p0h4p0h7p0h4p0h7p0h4p0h7p0h|
G|------------------------------------|--------------------------------|
D|------------------------------------|--------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------|--------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------|--------------------------------|
 
e|----------------------------------|--------------------------------|
B|--5p0h8p0h5p0h8p0h5p0h8p0h5p0h8p0h|5p0h8p0h5p0h8p0h5p0h8p0h5p0h8p0h|
G|----------------------------------|--------------------------------|       x2
D|----------------------------------|--------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------|--------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------|--------------------------------|

e|-------------------------------------|--------------------------------|
B|--12p0h10p0h9p0h10p0h9p0h7p0h9p0h5p0h|7p0h4p0h5p0h4p0h5p0h4p0h5p0h4p0h|
G|-------------------------------------|--------------------------------|  x10 
D|-------------------------------------|--------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------|--------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------|--------------------------------|

Johnny B. Goode:

    N.C.                                            Bb

e|----------5/6-6-6-5/6-6-6-6-6-6------------------------------------|
B|-------6--5/6-6-6-5/6-6-6-6-6-6-9-8-6-6----------------------------|
G|---6h7--------------------------------6h7--------------------------|
D|-8----------------------------------------8-6--8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-----|
A|-----------------------------------------------8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-----|
E|-------------------------------------------------------------------|

                     Eb
e|--------------------------------6----------------------------------|
B|-6-----6----------------6-------6-------6-------6-------6----------|
G|-6-7-8-6h7----8b9--8b10---8b10----8b10----8b10-----8b10------------|
D|------------8------------------------------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------------------|

   Bb                                        F             Eb
e|-------------------------------------------6---9-8-6------------------------|
B|------6-------6------6------6------6---------6-------9-8-6-6---8---6--------|
G|-8b10---8b10----8b10---8b10---8b10---8b10------------------6h7-8---6h7-7----|
D|-----------------------------------------------------------------8-----8----|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|

   Bb               F
e|------------------------------------|
B|---6---8-6--------------------------|
G|---6h7-8-6h7-7/---------------------|
D|-8-----------8/---10-10-10-10-10----|
A|------------------8--8--8--8--8-----|
E|------------------------------------|

That'll Be The Day:
  E E E E E E E E E E E   E E E E +H         E E E E E E E E   E E E E E E E E
e|-------0-----0-----0---|-----2-2-(2)----||------------------|-----------------|
B|---------0-----0-----0-|-----0-0-(0)----||o-----------------|-----------------|
G|---3S4-----3-----2-----|-1-0-2-2-(2)----||------------------|-----------------|
D|-----------------------|-2-0-1-1-(1)----||--2-2-4-4-2-2-4-4-|-2-2-4-4-2-2-4-4-|
A|-----------------------|-----2-2-(2)----||o-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|
E|-----------------------|----------------||------------------|-----------------|


   A (E)                               D (A)
   E E E E E E E E   E E E E E E E E   E E E E E E E E   E E E E E E E E
e|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
B|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
G|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
D|-----------------|-----------------|-2-2-4-4-2-2-4-4-|-2-2-4-4-2-2-4-4-|
A|-2-2-4-4-2-2-4-4-|-2-2-4-4-2-2-4-4-|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|
E|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|-----------------|-----------------|