Musical Instrument Warm ups and Practicing piano, guitar, violin, scales, etc.

I'm curious as to what people do when you do warm up.

Piano playing is not a simple task. It's composed of collection of complex muscular activities. Almost in a martial arts teaches. Difference is the purpose. Martial Arts whatever you want to say about it, it's the art of killing. I'm from Japan so I know about spirits, samurai, philosophy but it is the killing you do with it. Music on the other hand is to express ideas. Enrich people's life. Maybe it's yourself and your greatness you want to express.. but generally Composition has emotional or intellectual, philosophical meaning to be expressed.

Going back to practice so how can you find that in scale, hannon, stuff like that? That's the kind of the thing you want to be thinking when you play these things.

You can learn all the notes in scales. but You have to realize you don't need piano or any instrument to learn them and note names. They have to sound certain way. or many different ways to be exact. Where you accent, how soft you want to play. How long to keep notes or spaces. Those are the point you need to focus on when you practice.

Guitarists!! Playing fast seems cool at first but if you are only playing bunch of notes without any dynamics you are just showing off. All fast playing and all the things people just start dreaming needs purpose. (Hopefully other than amazing others with how fast YOU can play.. and not for your own ego boost)

For your good, think of how to play scales
Not just fingering, not just notes. learning them and moving in the way that book tells you to do is the part. ANYONE can do. Think of WHY you need to play them on that instrument. and why you want to play them with the instrument you picked or you play. Musical instruments all have different sounds and you want to get to know them in depth. Scale practices are very important because of that. You can keep all notes the same and basic theory of it is universal but you can just keep playing them and you'll never run out of things you can do with them. This scale practice is that deep.

The expression or your unique idea is YOUR part and you should practice that. You should concentrate on making them come forward. and You should really be listening and asking yourself if this is really what you want.


There are other issues in this regards.. (like how you should move or use your body to get those qualities you are looking for when you play scales, or anything..)
but that's what you should be practicing. I don't want to hear 32nd note scales at tempo 300. Meaningless. You just wow and you'll be forgotten the next moment.


books:
the craft of piano playing - alan fraser
art of violin playing - carl flesch
effortless mastery - kenny werner