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Fingertip soreness from playing too hard


Dave Bryce

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Some actions do that to me more than others, even when you are banging out the rock n' roll. For example, the CP4 - so it had to go. Doesn't seem to happen as much on my piano as on other fully-weighted electronic keyboards. My only suggestion is: when competing with the guitarist, turn the amps up to 11, rather than trying to do it manually!

 

Tom F.

"It is what it is."

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The funny thing is...once the adrenaline hit last nght, I didn't feel it very much at all. :idk:

 

Today - different story. :eek:

 

Luckily, I have a NAMM show coming up this week. I'm sure my hands will get plenty of rest. :crazy::facepalm:

 

You want pain?

 

Play bass, even lightly, when you've let your callouses lapse (like mine, now). You will have actual blisters and SERIOUS pain. You need thick, near-leathery callouses to play bass. Man, if the phone rings and someone wants me to come play bass, like, for real? I'm going to be in a heap o' trouble.

 

Keyboards? Huh...keyboard players ain't gots no callouses. Keyboards are what I play when I can't play bass.

I have a couple of Sandberg basses and one custom built bass - all black with gold machines, Warmoth body, Kubicki neck (ebony fretboard), EMG pickups, Bartolini EZ-Q synth filter and (I swear) a built-in Boss CE-2 chorus pedal. :cool:

 

Now, if I could only play any of them decently. :idk:

 

dB

:snax:

 

:keys:==> David Bryce Music • Funky Young Monks <==:rawk:

 

Professional Affiliations: Royer LabsMusic Player Network

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Anyone else get it? :idk:

 

Sometimes I just enjoy myself a bit too much, and end up with one or two fingertips that are sensitive to contact for a few days. Got one finger with that issue today, and I have a gig tonight... :eek:

 

Wish there was a quick fix.

 

dB

 

 

Only if I cut my fingernails too short.

 

Second this. Ive found if I cut my nails at least a day before a weekend of gigging (say, Thursday before Friday-Saturday gigs), my fingertips dont get as sore.

Live: Yamaha S70XS (#1); Roland Jupiter-80; Mackie 1202VLZ4; IEMs or Traynor K4

Home: Hammond SK Pro 73; Moog Minimoog Voyager Electric Blue; Yamaha S70XS (#2); Wurlitzer 200A

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Also, remember that if your fingers are taking that much of a beating, so is your action. Take it from someone who has done his share of unnecessary damage to his boards before I wised the hell up.

Yamaha P515 & CK88, Pianoteq, Mainstage, iOS, assorted other stuff.

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When I play with a certain band my fingers get beaten up and split.

I find it's directly proportional to the stage volume and whether or not I can hear myself.

 

 

Muzikteechur is Lonnie, in Kittery, Maine.

 

HS music teacher: Concert Band, Marching Band, Jazz Band, Chorus, Music Theory, AP Music Theory, History of Rock, Musical Theatre, Piano, Guitar, Drama.

 

 

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A friend of mine had this problem in the 90s. He "solved" it by treating his fingertips with benzocaine (oral-gel). It would at least help you get through a show.

Hammond: L111, M100, M3, BC, CV, Franken CV, A100, D152, C3, B3

Leslie: 710, 760, 51C, 147, 145, 122, 22H, 31H

Yamaha: CP4, DGX-620, DX7II-FD-E!, PF85, DX9

Roland: VR-09, RD-800

 

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Please forgive the next snide paragraph, but let's see if I understand this:

  • put orajel on your fingers so you won't feel the tissue damage; :puff:
  • So what if you permanently damage yourself -- what'smore important is that you squished that poor silicon rubber pad! :facepalm:

 

Take it from someone who tends to damage his own flesh when playing music too enthusiastically: our health is more important than the performance or the equipment. Now if I can just practice what I preach....

-Tom Williams

{First Name} {at} AirNetworking {dot} com

PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361

 

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You think Oragel is bad? Wait'll you find out what you can accomplish with cocaine!

 

On a more serious note, I'm glad I've never had this problem, but I will do *whatever* it takes to get through a show in my best form possible. I actually keep lidocaine in my gig bag because I sometimes suffer from cracked skin on backs of my hands (weird skin condition) and hang nails. Way more effective than benzocaine, BTW. I also have Gaviscon to counteract occasional stomach problems, which can be triggered by Naproxen that I take for the slipped disc in my upper T-spine which presses on the nerve that controls fingers 4 and 5 of my right hand.. (I'm on meloxicam now..way better...for now at least)

Hammond: L111, M100, M3, BC, CV, Franken CV, A100, D152, C3, B3

Leslie: 710, 760, 51C, 147, 145, 122, 22H, 31H

Yamaha: CP4, DGX-620, DX7II-FD-E!, PF85, DX9

Roland: VR-09, RD-800

 

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Synths songs hurt more than piano type stuff. I guess because the K2-88 is my master board for everything but I seem to use different power generation for different types of sounds. For piano stuff a lot of power comes from heavy forearms and I often flatten the finger out some ... Less arch less fingertip impact ... Depends on the songs. Synths stuff I use more finger power, more arch like I would on a synth. Not sure why.... Habit.... Probably

Bad technique. Regardless I think of keeping the centers of the palms relaxed. Tension makes tired and slow hands.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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That's why I sold my P90. The action was too heavy to play, too much force to push the keys down.

It's why I stopped playing my SG-1D.... I guess about 20 years ago. I don't think it's the amount of force to push the keys down, though. I think that it's that the felts are so thin. My Rhodes had even heavier action than the Korg but my hands never hurt after gigging with it. My not-necessarily-scientific conclusion was that the Rhodes had a lot of "mush" at the end of the key travel. But the Korg had very little mush at all - they key must decelerate to a complete stop in a very short distance. I figured my fingers were subject to much harsher deceleration on the Korg.

 

Since then I've always played on semi-weighted keyboards since then, and adapted my playing to require a lighter touch. I don't have nearly as much finger strength as I used to, but my fingers don't hurt anymore either.

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Anyone else get it? :idk:

 

Sometimes I just enjoy myself a bit too much, and end up with one or two fingertips that are sensitive to contact for a few days. Got one finger with that issue today, and I have a gig tonight... :eek:

 

Wish there was a quick fix.

 

dB

 

 

Only if I cut my fingernails too short.

 

Second this. Ive found if I cut my nails at least a day before a weekend of gigging (say, Thursday before Friday-Saturday gigs), my fingertips dont get as sore.

 

On a related note: how often do you guys cut your nails and do you ever try to cut them a certain number of days before a gig?

 

Seems like I cut my nails every 5-6 days, and I generally try to avoid cutting them the same day of a gig. Sometimes the timing doesn't work out.

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I'll agree that it's a monitoring issue in a loud band. I get this once in a while too and it seems to be from playing harder to compensate for stage volume. It happened more with my FA08, haven't experienced it on the Kronos yet.

Live: Korg Kronos 2 88, Nord Electro 5d Nord Lead A1

Toys: Roland FA08, Novation Ultranova, Moog LP, Roland SP-404SX, Roland JX10,Emu MK6

www.bksband.com

www.echoesrocks.com

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I keep nail clippers in my van. I frequently cut my nails en route to the venue. What's the issue with same-day cutting??

 

Hammond: L111, M100, M3, BC, CV, Franken CV, A100, D152, C3, B3

Leslie: 710, 760, 51C, 147, 145, 122, 22H, 31H

Yamaha: CP4, DGX-620, DX7II-FD-E!, PF85, DX9

Roland: VR-09, RD-800

 

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I keep nail clippers in my van. I frequently cut my nails en route to the venue. What's the issue with same-day cutting??

 

I find that my fingertips are more prone to get a little irritated if I play for a long time when the nails are very short.

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