Is Your On-Stage Warm-up Annoying People Around You?

A few months ago I played with one of the many regional orchestras in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. It was my first time playing with the group and (as always) I wanted to make a good impression. I arrived early to each rehearsal and concert, went on stage, and played a warm-up plus some excerpts from my parts. Of course I followed basic stage etiquette such as not playing random orchestral excerpts or solos, not playing passages from other player's parts, and not playing anything at fortissimo. However, I still annoyed some of the people around me.

A few days after the week of rehearsals and concerts I asked a friend of mine how well I fit into the group. (I believe it's always a good idea to get feedback whenever possible, about everything possible.) He told me that everything was fine, but some of the other players complained about the loudness of my warm-up. What I felt was a reasonable volume for an on-stage warm-up was apparently not reasonable. After thinking about it for a little while I believe that the materials I played were also an issue. Part of my warm-up usually involves fast articulated scales and full-range harmonic series based lip slurs. These exercises are probably too aggressive and annoying to play around others.

Now when I am on stage before a performance or rehearsal I limit my playing to slow exercises at mezzo piano and light excerpts from my parts. If I'm playing a rehearsal or concert where I feel I need a more robust warm-up I will go somewhere isolated or use a practice mute.

For years I must have unknowingly annoyed many people with my on-stage warm-ups. I can only hope that I have not done so too excessively. I know that many of the people reading this post may say to themselves "so-what" and believe that it doesn't matter if someone is a bit annoyed by something like a warm-up. However, the music industry is a competitive business and if you antagonize someone, even a little bit, there is a very good chance that there is someone else they can call next time.