Cold and stiff fingers?

[pianist7]

When my fingers are cold, they feel very stiff. Are there any ways to avoid this?

[thalbergmad]

Yeh, don't let them get cold.

Thal

[gyzzzmo]

gloves and pockets

[lostinidlewonder]

Get your heart rate up with some physical action and your hands will warm up. Star jumps?

[go12_3]

Put your hands in warm water or do some real fast Hanon exercises!   

[bellywelly]

yes, i've heard that before a performance, professional pianists put their hands in warm water to prevent freezing stiff fingers from letting their performance down. i heard hand stretches before practising helps too. not unlike the stretches you do before going for a jog.

[tds]

Put your hands in warm water or do some real fast Hanon exercises!   

yep try the former ( trying the latter will injure u ).

sup, go?

[go12_3]

yep try the former ( trying the latter will injure u ).

sup, go?

Hi hon! (tds) the Hanon won't injure you, just for a few minutes, it works for me   

[richard black]

Do Percy Grainger's warmup - sit down and slap your knees with your hands repetitively, as fast as possible, for 5 minutes.

[tds]

Hi hon! (tds) the Hanon won't injure you, just for a few minutes, it works for me   

  oh yah? ok then, you can do the go thingy, pianist7 

[gyzzzmo]

playing fast stuff like Hanon never worked for me, and i think its not really effective either. If your hands are cold you can get them warm either internally (bloodflow) or externally (gloves, pocket, warm water). Since playing piano isnt really that muscle intensive and youre forcing your cold muscles to do stuff it isnt really ready for, its not really effective. Better do this if your hands are already abit warm and are warming up for high performance.
So makes more sense if you got cold hands to do exercises like Richard Black mentioned, or prevent them from getting cold by using gloves or keeping your hands in your pockets.

Gyzzz

[weissenberg2]

I like to wash my hands in hot water before I practice (I avoid people when I do that lol), but I usually only have to warm up when it is cold out. To loosen my fingers I like to do scales and/or arpeggios or play a piece (maybe a Scarlatti sonata or Bach invention).

[go12_3]

playing fast stuff like Hanon never worked for me, and i think its not really effective either. If your hands are cold you can get them warm either internally (bloodflow) or externally (gloves, pocket, warm water). Since playing piano isnt really that muscle intensive and youre forcing your cold muscles to do stuff it isnt really ready for, its not really effective. Better do this if your hands are already abit warm and are warming up for high performance.
So makes more sense if you got cold hands to do exercises like Richard Black mentioned, or prevent them from getting cold by using gloves or keeping your hands in your pockets.

Gyzzz

How am I going to play the piano with my hands in my pocket?   

[musiklover96]

you can buy reusable hand warmers which are really useful and inexpensive

[curio]

When the temperature is low your body conserves heat, and the extremities (hands and feet) seem to be low on the priority list.  So try to raise your entire body temperature (not just your hands) while playing by wearing warmer clothes, using a space heater, etc.  Also I recommend drinking something hot like tea; it warms you from the inside out, and plus you can wrap your hands around the mug to quickly warm them up.

[brahmslover]

There are many ways to increase blood circulation prior to performance.

1. Do jumping jacks
2. Clap hands loudly for a few minutes
3. Stretch
4. Hand warmer and gloves
5. Keep your core body really warm with layers of clothing (personally I don't like this as much because when we perform, we usually wear less clothing (especially for ladies). Taking the jacket off before going on stage plus nervousness would only make me more susceptible to frozen fingers. And plus psychologically the removal of the jacket makes me feel like removing my protection; I become "exposed" on stage.
6. Hot water (my school's music building doesn't have hot water for some reasons)


The best way in my opinion:
If you are in a cold climate, go outside in the cold and walk for a few minutes (no gloves on but keep your core body warm). Then go back in the building. The natural increased blood flow from coldness will make your hands feel especially warm inside a building. The temperature change will allow you to feel blood rushing in your hands. Do a few stretches and you are ready for performance!

[abj]

Fill a sink with warm water, and soak your hands and wrists in it. It worked for Gould.

[Bob]

Or get used to playing in those conditions.  The body adjusts. 

[librisgeek]

I have had this problem a lot... blood circulation problems or something...

I can do Hanon until I'm blue in the face, it's never helped me warm them up.  Scales either.  Arpeggios are the only thing that has helped me with this problem I guess it's something with the movement of the whole arm/wrist/hand. 

Also drink warm beverage. 

And wear enough clothes to slightly overheat the rest of your body. 

I get those hand warmer things from the drug store, they also have been known to work miracles. 

Happy playing!

[artsyalchemist]

Washing cold hands in warm water is one of the greatest things ever.  And it is effective in your case.

[graceandbeauty]

This is all great but do you no what the secret is learn to play with cold hands I have heard of musicians long ago sticking their hands in Ice water and playing so when they go on stage and get cold hands its totally normal!!! Now doesn't that take the cake I have tried it it works pretty well. because even in FL my hands go sub zero!

[cmg]

Move to NYC.  It was 99 degrees F. here yesterday.

[jmanpno]

I'd say see if you can't possibly play a little before the performance.  I have experienced this phenomenon but rarely;  when I have, playing through a mid length piece (~5 min) usually helps to get things working again.

Ultimately, as others have suggested, what really matters here is what caused the coldness and stiffness.

[johnmar78]

Hey Piano7, no reply from you yet, since we tried to help you.
Here are three options:

1) I suppose, buy youself a heater in the piano room keep 24C.
2) A cheaper way is wear youself a fur jacket to keep boiling if its winter at your place.

3) You can do my second way, have a big fed add 2 hot chilies, after 1 hour, your body will start to metabolise, and its the best time for your finger to practice when blood flow is at highest point-due to high gluocose in the stream. 

[wonzo]

I highly recommend submerging your hands in hot water for a couple of minutes. I do this every day at sunrise before I start my 6 hours of practice. It works like magic.

[jollisg]

I often heat up a wheat bag and wrap around my wrists and hands. I often have a problem  with my wrists getting cold and stiff, and that really helps me. (I have a really hard time getting warm)