For Musicians - How to Keep Your Fingers Warm and Agile

     I play a lot of gigs outside in cold weather. I have a couple coming up actually. These are holiday events here, up north, in December. I’ve also played Punxsutawney as a strolling fiddler for Groundhog Day for several years running now. It gets cold in the winter. Fingerless gloves, although nice looking, make it hard to play an instrument. They also don’t really warm you up right to the fingertips. Here is a good tip for any musician out there who need to keep their fingers warm and flexible when playing outside in cold weather. It’s a trick I learned hunting and one that works well when applied to playing the fiddle.
     Get some of those hand warmers that come in the little orange and brown packages. They go by different names such as Hot Hands, Heat Factory, Grabbers. You can buy these at hardware stores and most major all-in-one department stores like Walmart or K-Mart. All hunting stores carry them. I’m surprised music stores don’t. They should.
     Here’s what to do:

     Wear a long sleeved sweater that fits snugly around your wrists. What you want to do is to warm the blood vessels in your wrists before it reaches your fingertips. Tuck the hand warmers between the cuff of the sweater and the inside of your wrists. Your fingers will stay nice and warm.

     Visit this blog again. I’ll be posting how to keep your pegs from slipping in cold weather - another common problem among fiddlers who play outside in the winter.

     If you like this tip please share it among your friends on Facebook. Thanks!