Is cracking or popping the fingers good warm up for piano players?
Cracking or popping you fingers does NOT lead to arthritis – it is merely the sound of air moving thru the synovial fluid in your joints. The best warm-ups are scales, arpeggios, and perhaps excerpts from Czerny or other short things you have memorized, just to get the blood flowing, and the nerves firing. If you hands are CODL – then you might need to be warm er all over – exercise, or drink something wamer, like tea – not coffee – you’ get COLDER from the *dip*when the caffeine wears off. I carry those little plastic pouches that you get in hunting supply stores – you zip them open, and the material inside gets warm for a few hours. I hold them for as long as I can, then drop them in a pocket in *someplace* where they can continue to warm me up. As a flutist, I have even put one in my SHOE – cannot walk, but kept my toes warm while seated.
