Sweaty Hands + Violin, is there a solution? Options

[nova]

I have never been so hot. I don't think my violin has ever been this hot either. Practicing with a sticky, warm fingerboard, hot damp hands, wildly annoying strings which are out of tune etc etc...but the worst thing is the sweaty hands sticking to everything!
N

[river]

i know how you feel, sadly i don't have a solution (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) i find the flute worse than than fiddle, the keys get sticky and horrible and i end up wiping it down every 15 minutes or so.

my regular session is in a pub that's fiercly hot even in winter... as you might imagine, playing there at this time of year is not very pleasant! (fortunately they leave both doors open until 12, so there's a bit of a breeze.) tonight i'm playing in a pub that's actually heard of air conditioning; that will be a nice change.

[all ears]

That's why I like the cover photo on that Perlman CD, "Concertos from my Childhood" - sweaty kid in his undershirt sawing away...it just spells "summer holiday practice".

I get the impression that it's not quite so bad as you get better at placing your fingertips more efficiently, rather than squelching down the maximum amount of skin on the fingerboard!

Viohazard certainly uses a thin Japanese-style handtowel over his shoulder and neck in hot weather. Other than that the sartorial image is strictly Perlman, I'm afraid.

Would it help to have a damp and a dry towel nearby for quick handwipes? Showering BEFORE practice might help too! Hope the weather breaks soon... you certainly have my sympathy, as Japan is a steambath most years from June until the end of September.

P.S. A few cubes of ice rolled up in the portion of the handtowel that goes round the back of the neck is cooling. I almost feel the need to provide an illustrated guide to summer violin practice!

[maya3]

i use a little bit of talcum powder on my hands which helps with the sweaty fingerboard.

x

[Debra]

my dominant strings do not seem to go out of tune too much and not too often in the hot weather, but i don't know what strings you have. The sweaty hands i find the worst problem, so i just wash them with cold water and just stop playing the violin for a few minutes ---- well at least enough time for a cup of tea!!!

[ffliwt]

I don't use it on my left hand cause i don't wanna get it on the strings but on my bowing hand i use a little bit of chalk that i use to stop sweaty hands in gymnastics! Stops my bow flying out of my hand...

[jojo]

I also have dominants on my violin and they seem to keep in tune quite well for days....

I don't get sweaty hands EVER! so not a problem there for me, but DO get sweaty under my chin and my forehead! SO, I put a little flannel/handkerchief on chin rest and practice with all the windows and doors open in house and a fan on highest speed facing me!!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) that seems to fix things (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[bohemian]

I think running your wrists rather than hands under cold water is meant to help because it cools the blow flow better so the effect lasts longer than if you just cool your hands. It's a thing pastry chefs do too (apparently...).

The worst thing about this weather is that sweat dissolves strings! Mine die after about 2 weeks in the summer compared to 6 weeks normally (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) And E strings are just impossible to keep up with. So depressing, and so expensive.

[jojo]

The worst thing about this weather is that sweat dissolves strings! Mine die after about 2 weeks in the summer compared to 6 weeks normally (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) And E strings are just impossible to keep up with. So depressing, and so expensive.

yes but you probably play 23 hours a day (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
with my 'mere' 1 hour a day my strings last me 6 months (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[bohemian]

yes but you probably play 23 hours a day (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)
with my 'mere' 1 hour a day my strings last me 6 months (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

5/6 hours plus orchestras I guess. But I think I have super-corrosive strings and also Larsen Tzigane are really not long lasting at all (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) but they sound so nice, when they're new!

[Minstrel]

Bohemian - look on the bright side, at least you're getting them sounding wonderful and new more often!

Jojo - electric fan+sheets of music = major chaos here! Even the clothes pegs could barely cope in a quartet rehearsal today! You must know something i don't!

On the days I'm not teaching I try to do the continental thing in this sort of hot weather - a good burst in the morning when it's cool, not a lot in the middle of the day when it's hot, then another good go (around now!) when it's a lot cooler and fresher. The Spanish have something going with their 4 hour siestas!

(note delaying tactic for avoiding the next tricky bit of orchestral practice......)

[AmandaL]

I think running your wrists rather than hands under cold water is meant to help because it cools the blood flow better so the effect lasts longer than if you just cool your hands. It's a thing pastry chefs do too (apparently...).

Yes indeed, running your wrists under a cold tap will cool the blood. It not only cools your hands but lowers body temperature in general.

[false_harmonic]

I only get sweaty hands when I'm nervous, so not had a problem with the heat in that respect. Admittedly didn't practise yesterday, which was the hottest day so far (I could tell because when I got home the butter I'd left out because I don't like it going brick-like in the fridge had turned into a yellow puddle on the kitchen worktop), as it was ever so much more appealing with the bright blue sky to go and climb a mountain after work, rather than being cooped up inside; perhaps tonight I'll take violin up said mountain and do my practising at the top (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

I do get awful sweaty hands when I'm nervous though - might take up Maya's tip of talcum powder for my next exam, I must say it was something that had occured to me to do before, I just, in my typical disorganised fashion, always forget to buy some!

I have been having trouble with my strings going out of tune very quickly in the heat though, don't know there's much to be done about it, except keep tuning the violin (which is a nightmare with an adjuster only on the E!

[jojo]

Jojo - electric fan+sheets of music = major chaos here! Even the clothes pegs could barely cope in a quartet rehearsal today! You must know something i don't!

I tell you what I know which you 'may' not know,
I point the fan at me and not at the music!

I don't stand right attached to music stand, so the fan is more or less next to it pointing at me (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) that's how it's done and no music goes flying about!

[scifi-karis]

Another tip for overly sweaty hands ... don't wipe them completely dry when they get sweaty. If you pat them dry rather than wiping them or washing them completely dry, the sweat pores get more clogged up rather than cleaned out and you will go for a longer period of them being more dry rather than soaked with sweat!