Cold hands!

[danyal]

What to do about freezing hands!? I sit down to practise and alot of my time is wasted trying to warm up because my hands are stiff to the bone from the cold! Bach can fix it, but takes far too long. Usually (doesnt sound like much but helps) making a hot cup of something to hold on to helps, but its also a time waster. Any suggestions?

[Teddybear]

I have a terrible stage fright and have a lot of physical problems when I go on stage. Feeling cold is one of them. The best solution I've found so far is simply to wear more clothes. For example, I wear two shirts with long sleeves (layer clothing = good). Even though you're only practising, this might help you. Warming the hands from the outside won't do the trick.

Good luck,

T

[anda]

be there 30 min earlier, and use 15 to sit on your hands (body warmth will do the trick faster than any hot mug or anything like that). use the other 15 to warm up on the piano as you usually do (chopin etudes are great; also any fast scale/arpeggios passage from any work you're currently working on)

[Kassaa]

Make yourself a cup of tea, and drink it. The drinking is the most important. It will warm you up. And after that, play some etudes.

[greyrune]

I know you guys all seem to hate it, but my teacher's making me do it and i find that Hanon is a really good warm up, it moves all the fingers and you don't have to think.  If you come in with freezing cold hands in 5-10 mins they are completely fluid.

[jhon]

Hanon is an enough warm-up: 1~20 (Part I) and 21~30 (Part II); add also the complete scales (major, minor, thirds) and arpeggios (major, minor, diminished, seventh) as well as chromatics.

   

[Tash]

we love this topic

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[Bouter Boogie]

What to do about freezing hands!? I sit down to practise and alot of my time is wasted trying to warm up because my hands are stiff to the bone from the cold! Bach can fix it, but takes far too long. Usually (doesnt sound like much but helps) making a hot cup of something to hold on to helps, but its also a time waster. Any suggestions?

I've got the same problem. Try some Chopin etudes then, it works for me 

[gorbee natcase]

spin your arms around so the blood rushes in to your hands, while doing this begin to make a fist. it works a treat

[teresa_b]

If you can, do some aerobic exercise with your whole body for about 15 minutes, then warm up at the keyboard.  And wear warm enough clothes. 

Teresa

[Bouter Boogie]

You know what also helps? Before a performance, when you've got cold hands, I always sit on my hands  It often helps 

[keys]

instead of starting  with Bach when you practice, start  with some chords to warm  up the larger muscles first. To a performance, carry a water bottle with hot water in it to hold and dress warm.

[dreamplaying]

Normally I used to went 45 min before the concert, and played some little pieces I like which are not in the program..(i.e. some Kinder Scenes by Schuman or Children’s Corner by Debbusy), That was even inspiring .

[Cecin_Koot]

What to do about freezing hands!? I sit down to practise and alot of my time is wasted trying to warm up because my hands are stiff to the bone from the cold! Bach can fix it, but takes far too long. Usually (doesnt sound like much but helps) making a hot cup of something to hold on to helps, but its also a time waster. Any suggestions?

cold hands, dont even talk about them, it drives me crazy when I want to play somthing fast but I can't becuase of my hands.  i have a solution if you are willing to try anything, find a way to put your hand in the microwave then press defrost, lump of meat or somthing like that 

[danyal]

I'de like to have a hand left when I start playing...

[apion]

Sit in a sauna for 10 minutes -- that'll help.

[Siberian Husky]

do some handstands

or you can maybe ask NASA to use you as a test subject for their centrepical force machines

you can also manipulate the waves froma  microwave to heat vessels in your arms

dig a hole as far down to the core and build an elevator so that you can warm your hands with the lava of the earth

travel back in time to a volcano explotion and just use that lava, this ones a bit easier





hjfdsghjfdsagkfdsagjk!!!! SERIOUSLY PEOPLE!!


all you need!..is warm water!!!!..THATS IT....no shaking!...no headspins!!....no taebo!...or kung fu!...just water..please..por favor...seriously..

[nanabush]

Anyone here's hands ever been cold like a minute before an exam?  For my grade nine, it was during the winter, and I had to go in a back room to wait, and there was no heater, and I'm sure no insulation, I was frozen with my winter jacket on... and I tried to find somebody, but no one was around xcept for the examiner, and I think the coordinator or w/e was gone somewhere, aww It pissed me off, I played pretty badly because of that.

[patteeheeadidas]

wash your hands in warm water before you play, and wear gloves!
 

[Jacey1973]

My friend Rosemary always puts on some thick winter gloves about ten minutes before a recital - even in summer! I always forget to bring gloves so i end up sitting on my hands and doing a really thorough warm up.

It's much worse in the winter though (as we all know), because i used to have breaks every couple of hours of practising and went outside to have a fag and to get some er..fresh air then i went back after 5 minutes and my fingers just wouldn't move, so had to keep re-warming up every couple of hours. That is a bit of a pain as I couldn't continue with what i had been doing 5 mins before.

[nomis]

Light aerobic exercise does wonders for your circulation, and helps to warm the hands up. But the most effective and easiest method are forearm stretches and hand stretches. I've always found that water doesn't work for me, whether it is extremely hot or cold, because after a while, my hands become cold again.

[chozart]

Sitting on hands hasn't done me much good

Sure, they'll warm up but the following still happens:
- the moment I stop sitting on them, my hands get pretty much just as cold as they were
- and to add to it, they're stiffer, as a result of slower blood circulation from sitting on them

What's worked best for me so far is running warm water over hands, and having someone hold your hands!
The water doesn't alone have a much lasting effect, but it helps calm me; another person's warm hands then continue the warmth that the water had temporarily provided.
I was lucky to have made friends with some of the other girls at my last recital. In particular, another and I were nervous. I kept saying "ugh I hate when my hands get cold like this." and she said "Really?? Mine get really hot!" So my hands cooled hers, and hers heated mine, lol. Kinda funny, but hey, it helps

Gloves aren't bad, but don't use the woolen or cotton ones or whatever. Best are ones that have a smooth, satin-like inside, but a contrasting surface (like leather). Your hands won't get as sweaty and they'll just feel a lot better and more "naturally" heated.

[rob47]

this might sound bizzare but try,

hold the tip of your index finger with your other hand's thumb, index and middle fingers and push downard applying pressure to create friction.  Do it a bunch of times on each finger.  Also if your hands are cold because you've been outside and it's winter, I don't recommend applying warm water to them.  this can cause some sort of problem going from extremely cold to warm. Start with cold water, which will likely feel warm anyway if your hands are frostbitten-ish and gradually warm them up.  Althoguh I think the friction idea would work better.

[ako]

Wearing gloves helps me most.

[rebel1ns]

wearing gloves, and practicing very fast pieces first...then after your hands get a bit warmer you can start focusing on other pieces in your repertoire (in competition or concert)

[lostinidlewonder]

The best thing is to expose your hands to the cold. Don't cover them up, dont rub them together, don't put them in hot water, don't nurse them!

If you want to temper your hands so that they can resist cold what you can do is put a damp face cold in the freezer, leave it in there till its chilled then put it onto your hands and leave them there for a while. This is a very cold experience, freezes your hands, but keep doing it and eventually your hands become use to being exposed to cold. This is what Tibetian Monks do to walk through the high snow covered mountains. They can walk through the snow with only their thin garments on without feeling the cold because they temper their entire body by drying wet cloth on their body.