warming up your hands tricks???

Whistle
1

I have noticed that I play better after I have gone through a few tunes (means my fingers move better).
Are there some tricks to warm up your hands before playing?

Berti

2

I usually warm up with running the scale a few times or playing some simple songs to start off with. As far as how you can warm up before you touch the flute/whistle, I’m not too sure.

3

I am astonished that Amar hasn’t jumped right in here at this point.

4

i’d recommend hand cream, but not before playing,
some uilleann pipers use it frequently.

5

rubbing them together very quickly?

6

uhm I think I did express the question the wrong way…I just meant how to get my fingers move faster, not how to get my hands warm :smiley:

berti

7

I think the two are related (keeping hands warm and moving fingers fast). I like to wear gloves even at the hint of coolness in the air. A guitar professional that I know said he would do exercises (sans guitar) everyday to build the muscles and dexterity he felt he needed to play fast.

When I perform, I like to warm up by fingering the holes while blowing over the fipple instead of into it. I can do this anywhere, and for me it feels like a a more effective warm up than playing some tunes at normal volume.

  • Bill
8

hi bill

think more members of this list would also be interested to hear what exercises that friend of yours is doing to build the muscles of his hands/ fingers…some of us could sure use them!
can you please ask him?

greetings
berti

9

One exercise was very simple. Extend both arms in front of you and extend the fingers to a stretched position, hold for three seconds, then make a tight fist, and hold for three, repeat ten times. The guiitarist said he did this about ten times a day or 100 reps.

I also remember him talking about getting one hand manicured (the strumming hand) with several layers of nail polish to build up his nails.

  • Bill
10

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

You know who else does?

11

This calls for a new whistle design. The “Thermos Whistle”, a cross between a Low-D and a thermos bottle. Scheduled for completion on April 1st. :laughing:

12

My “trick” if it can be called that, is to pick up a couple of those little hand-warmer packets at the local QT, activate 'em and drop them (wrapped in a couple of QT napkins) into my pockets. The ability of your fingers to move quickly is, indeed, related to hand warmth, and a couple of those little packets will keep your hands toasty for several hours.
Cheers, and Happy New Year
Bill Whedon

Does anyone besides me know that Bingamon is making BASS whistles now? What’s up with that, Dan? Got freight-train envy? :stuck_out_tongue:

13

:roll: Colin Goldie.

14

Well, he uses hand cream but not straight before he plays. When you have been here last, his hands were very rough, probably that is why you saw him using hand cream. Having creamed hands the finger prints you leave on your instrument may be really awkward to get rid off after playing.

Berti, to loosen your hands and get your fingers quick, next time we meet, he can show you some finger stretching excercises and to get your fingers quickly moving, hey, typewriting (typing on your keyboard) should do the job (just kidding)

To help you getting quicker besides your regular playing practice, I would recommend you just take the whistle or flute and not blow into it and just hold it as if you would play and move your fingers as if you were playing a tune or even only up and down the scale. Normally you would be able to hear little pops if you put your fingers down properly when you hold the vent hole or the embouchoure hole close to your ear.

You can do this finger practice even when watching a movie. People around you will get used to you practicing this way as long as you do not start blowing into it while the climax of the movie is close… and during the advertising breaks you could also blow into it for a change and listen to what you were doing before only with your fingers. It can be a helpful excercise to practice the ornamentations without driving the rest of the family nuts, too and you can do it this way no matter what time of the day it is.

Hope this helps for the moment
Brigitte

15

Actually I normally only use hand cream sometimes after being in the workshop. I would not use it before playing as it can make the fingers stick a bit to the instrument, infact if I have hand cream on and I want to play I would normally wash it away beforehand.

As far as warming up the hands I would bend each finger back in turn to stretch them and give them a quick massage all over including the palms and wrists. This would make them loosen up and relaxed. If playing for quite a while I might take a break and do it all again. I can show you when we meet up next.

Colin

16

Ok I will try, thanks for the tips and see you both soon :wink:
greetings
berti