Cold hands

Does anyone of you know how to avoid getting cold hands while playing the piano ?

Normally I try to warm up before playing but that only helps me through the first 5 minuts..
Any help or comments will be appreciated.. Even the ones going off topic :rolleyes:

Regards
Daniel

i'm sorry but the first thing that came to my mind was "wear gloves!"... interesting to note that Pollini once did it during a performance... but that was to protect himself from the keyboard and not against cold...=] sorry for the off-topic reply...

Hey magnezium
I don't think that was off topic at all.
Actually I thought about that myself but never seriously though.. Maybe I should find some nice white 'piano gloves' if ever such things exists. (?)

Thanks
Daniel

Magnezium

You're going to have to elaborate on that Pollini story. What kind of gloves can a concert pianist wear and still play? And, protecting himself from the piano?

Aren't there "fingerless" gloves (similar to driving gloves) that organists wear to play in cold cathedral organ lofts?

Hi,
There are gloves with no ends at the fingers. I have seen a boy at school with them. I think their quite cool actually.

If anyone knows where to purchase "fingerless gloves" suitable for playing pianos, I'd love to know where one could find them.

My son sets up a little electrical heater (Heat Stream by ArvinAir, 800 watts) on a stool to his left when he practices, aiming the hot air directly at his hands. He used to soak his hands a la Glenn Gould before practicing, but the effect only lasts for a little while.

The room where our piano is situated has a vaulted ceiling. Coldest room in the house, but very friendly acoustic-wise.

Joy


:rolleyes:

Oh Daniel, so i know your plight all to well. let me tell you, the worst feeling in the world is playing the Messiah in a 55 degree church in the middle of winter ( december) and having you hands so stiff you could crack cement on them. usually i just sit on my hands before i have to go up and play and then just hope for the best......

damn i can't find the article... but i remember it was some piece by a 20th century composer that was highly demanding technically and it would have been easy to be cut by the keys... let me look for it... i thought i read on steinway.com's lyra magazine but it doesn't seem to be there now... maybe it wasn't pollini... let me look further...

[ June 07, 2001: Message edited by: magnezium ]

Joy - you could try two things - There are these white cotton gloves made for people who handle negatives and things when they are doing darkroom work. We used to cut the fingers out of them and wear them when illustrating - to keep the oil from out hands off our paper. Also, surgical gloves used to keep my hands really warm in freezing temperatures when I was sewing up horses. He could try some of these with the fingers cut out. (they would be more expensive, and might not last as long as the cotton ones) Just a thought. Jodi

here's a link that might be useful - both cotton, lint free nylon, and surgical gloves: http://www.aname.org/microscopia/ems/preparation/gloves.html#71090

Jodi

My advice? Don't change a thing. Play with cold hands. You know what they say...Cold Hands...Warm Heart. :p
Jamie

Here is another link - these are a therapeutic glove for RSI (repetetive stress injuries): http://www.handeze.com/fingerless.htm
There are also some fingerless gloves that guitarists and drummers use - I'm trying to find a site that has a photograph - I'll add the link if I find one. Jodi

Well, can't find the drummers gloves, but I did find these: http://www.yagersflies.com/sunglovfin.html
My husband has a pair - I'll ask him to put them on and see if he can play the piano. Jodi

[ June 07, 2001: Message edited by: jodi ]

I would be a little concerned about some of these therapeutic gloves--they look a little tight for people who have no injuries. I've seen organists actually use fingerless gloves--never asked where they got them. (Were they "knitted with love" by a family member, i.e. home-made?)

An organ web site gives the following advice:

"If a freezing cold church is all that is available, equip yourself with kettle, hot water bottle, fingerless gloves and a fan heater. And organise your practice tasks, so that every chilly half-hour at the organ is crowned with achievements." http://www.rco.org.uk/news7.htm

:p

ok i've found it... it was actually in an article posted in the old pianist corner forum...

"Pianist Maurizio Pollini once played a
modern piece so technically punishing he wore gloves to spare his hands from the keyboard.

This time, at Carnegie Hall, the Italian musician chose a less brutal work by the same composer, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and played it with his bare hands."

OK - I tried on Steve's fingerless sun gloves for fishing - and although they are a size too big for me, I did not find them difficult to play in. They are cut short enough on the finger so they don't seem to interfere with playing, and they did keep my hands warm. They are stretchy, so you would want them small enough for a snug fit. I would agree with MacDuff that it might not be a good idea to use the ones that are meant for support. Jodi

[ June 08, 2001: Message edited by: jodi ]

Jodi,
I checked out the web site with the fly fishing gloves, and they look perfect! Nice and thin. Reasonably priced too.

I assume the sizes are MEN'S sizes. I don't know if Max's hands are considered Medium or Large/Xtra Large. Anyway, I sent them an email querying this.

Thanks for the tip! Last year Max cut the fingers off some old acrylic knit gloves. Our swell cat then proceeded to unravel them.

Joy


[ June 08, 2001: Message edited by: Joy ]

I wonder what Stockhausen piece he played. And, what could make it damaging to the hands? Who was the original poster for that tidbit?

I'm sure Steve's are the large/ExLarge, and they were too big for me. I have big hands for a *girl* (7 1/2 - 8), but I would wear the men's medium. Jodi

Alex said: "I wonder what Stockhausen piece he played. And, what could make it damaging to the hands? Who was the original poster for that tidbit?"
------

I'll bet Andrew would know about this. But he's on a car vacation with his family somewhere between Denver and Orange County, CA. If he makes it down San Diego way, he said he MIGHT contact Max and me for an Artistic Pianos looky-loo.

Joy




[ June 08, 2001: Message edited by: Joy ]

Hi
I play at at my church which gets very cold in the winter, I purchased a chemical hand warmer from the chemist (boots)and the good thing about this is that it lasts the whole service (usually one hour)and it is also recharged by boiling it in hot water!