When I was a child and said “I’m sweating” my mother used to say “Horses sweat, men perspire and ladies gently glow.” Well I didn’t - and don’t - glow – I sweat - and unfortunately it is down my face the rivulets run and I can’t hold my flute against my chin. It slips all over the place.

One of my flute pupils has the same problem. Has anyone please got a suggestion? It is very hot here and neither the room we have to use for exams, nor my teaching room, nor the room where we have our concerts have air conditioning.

For the pianists I provide cold water and towels in the exam room (and a fan for the examiner!) and I have used antiperspirants or talcum powder on hands but I don’t know if anyone has a special trick for the flute.

how about wearing one of those 'head-bands'??? I know, at first I was laughing at the idea, but maybe you could disguise it with a nice 'bandana' which suits the style of your clothes? it will not stop you from sweating but may stop the sweat running down your face? sorry I can't come up with anything more clever than this at present.....

My flute teacher recommended stamp paper - when you buy stamps at the post office, instead of buying them in books, buy them off the post office tear-off sheets of stamps and make sure you get that little bit of white margin down the side of the sheet - you know, the bit that you would usually tear off and put in the bin.....then stick it on the mouthpiece of the flute where your flute sits on you chin/lower lip area.......it can rub slightly to start with, but at least it stops the slipping!!!!!!!!

You can get the same effect with a strip of masking tape.

Unfortunately you can't use an electric fan when you're playing flute, otherwise the top notes sound dreadful.

WOW, you learn something new every day! those are brilliant ideas!

Thanks everyone for the ideas. I shall be off to the nearest sports shop for sweat bands (it will look hilarious)

I'm afraid the French post office is a bit mean with stamp borders but working on the same principle I'm off to the nearest DIY as well for masking tape.

Thanks also for the electic fan tip - fore warned is fore armed !

Do you want me to send you some? In the main post-office where I live you can only buy stamps with borders if you go to the philately counter but strangely enough this is where the queue is usually shortest so I nearly always buy my stamps there and they don't sell books, only ones with borders.

In the small post-office (only one counter) the woman is very helpful and I think (although I've never tried) would probably give me some borders if I asked.

. . . and look like John McEnroe? You cannot be serious!!

I've heard tell of corn-plasters used for the same purpose, but they might be a bit thick?

Medical tape (for sticking dressings on) should work as well as masking tape.

More worryingly, you might look like Julian Lloyd Webber

http://www.swsinf.org/

Thanks kerioboe - a kind thought but have been saved by discovering a whole sheet of unused decorative Christmas stamps so can try it out. (Don't know who didn't get their cards this year!)

With all these suggestions I'm going to have a real sticking sesson to see which works best for me.

I actually saw John McEnroe on television a few days ago - we were watching Roland Garos and all the "oldies" were there to watch or were shown on ancient clips.

I thought about a bandana with a skull and cross bones - and I could then have an eye patch as well!

It is stifflingly hot here this morning. I think I'll become an organist. Churches are always freezing - at least the ones I have known.

One December I went with my school pupils to a concert given in the Cathedral by a flautist and organist. It was so cold that despite having a heater right beside her, the poor flautist gave up trying to tune and played flat throughout It is the only time I have seen water literally running (not dripping, running) out of the end of a flute.

Ours isn't. It's like a greenhouse. Wearing a cassock and surplice in the middle of summer isn't funny. Some people in the choir strip off underneath theirs.



Edit: sorry, nothing to do with the thread at all!

My hands are usually very cold and dry. However, at the Leeds concert they were soaking wet in anticipation of the performance I nipped out and put them under the cold tap for a good five minutes just before my turn. Some may have thought I was doing a runner
This worked for the hands, and I should think the tape would work for the lip piece. If you were to get medical tape for it, a roll of "micropore" would be the best thing.
Good Luck.
Beverley.

When I was very young, somebody in church told me that you wear nothing underneath. Completely put me off becoming a choirboy!

It was years before I realised it was a joke.

Er...at least I think it was a joke!

Steve