I was practising a piece for the music festival I'm playing in on Sunday - the Dohnanyi Rhapsody in C, which is a very loud, showy piece, which moves all over the piano. After a while, I noticed a red mark on the piano, which I didn't understand what it was, and, when I stopped and looked closer, I realised my finger was hurting, and there was blood all over the piano! Not good at all...I managed to split the skin between the nail and the skin at the side, I think - I've just stuck a plaster on and hoped for the best. I think I've got all the blood off the piano too - really adding insult to injury, that not only have I hurt myself, but I also hurt the piano!

This is really annoying. I think I'll still be okay for Sunday, but this is one of the hardest pieces in my repetoire, and I don't need any other problems for it! Hmm. Just a moaning post, really...

Ouch! Poor you! When I played the cello in my youth I used to get terrible problems with split skin on my fingers and paws. I started to use decent quality hand cream three times a day and the problem went away after a few weeks. I still use loads of hand lotion and haven't had splits in years. I still manage to give my hands the occasional bash when doing jobs involving hand tools though. Good luck with the festival.

ooh nasty - commiserations !

Oh no

Hope you feel better soon

Aww what a shame!
Don't worry I'm sure it will be better soon

Poor you
Hope you get better soon .

Thanks for the good wishes! The finger doesn't hurt any more, although it still bleeds when I play.

I had the class today - U-18 piano recital, with 12 people in the class. I didn't think I played very well, but managed to come third, so that was nice!

Well done. Glad that the finger is better too.