Brandy in the winter, tequila in the summer..

Seriously, though, most days don't go by without me having played a bit at home before I leave for the gig, so the hands are loosened up already. But, in the winter, after a cold load-in, I'll run them under some warm water in the bathroom before I play... Cold hands are way worse than 'un-scaled' hands, for me!

I don't get as much from those octave chromatic exercises, they're pretty much automatic, these days, but starting on different intervals, where each hand is doing different fingering at the same time, and contrary motion chromatics definitely help to get my brain started, even if my fingers are loose...
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An arranger is just a tool. What matters is what you build with it..!