Long story short: I started playing violin at the age of 4. When I left for college at age 18, I just played less and less until I kind of stopped. I haven’t played regularly since then (five and a half years), and up until today I hadn’t even touched my violin in…probably close to two years. I know. I’m a terrible person. The instrument got fully tuned and cleaned and apologized to profusely today. It also got played for about 45 minutes.
Here’s my problem: my fingertips hurt! I don’t remember this happening before, but it occurred to me that at age four, I played for maybe fifteen, twenty minutes at a time, and by the time I was doing longer sessions, I must have gradually toughened up my fingers enough that I didn’t really notice it happening (or I’ve just forgotten). Now, it seems, my fingers long ago became weak fleshy things.
Any suggestions for speeding up that toughening - both in terms of the skin on the fingertips, and the muscles? I know the obvious one of “play every day and play all your scales lots to rebuild those muscles”, but - seriously, after forty-five minutes, I’m typing kind of gingerly because my fingertips are almost swollen. Pointers, tips, recommendations?
For that matter - any general advice to de-rust one’s playing?
I’ve played both but my violin teacher said calusses are not necessary for the violin. It seems to be true, after a long absense I can pick up a fiddle and play pretty quickly but the guitar requires I get back into getting used to it again.
What you’re experiencing is totally normal . . . but perhaps 45 minutes is too long, until you get calluses. And you will.
I went much longer before resuming playing, and had all sorts of problems: I couldn’t get my fingers to move nearly as fast as they used to; I had to play everything at half speed, or less. And the muscles in both of my arms were hurting, and my chin wasn’t holding the instrument right, etc., etc., etc.
Of course the answer is: Practice, practice, practice.
As for the fingers, that’s natural and to be expected.
In the past, you’d slowly worked up your technique over a long period of time, and your fingertips (and various muscles and tendons) grew accustomed to the pressure and adapted as you developed.
When you picked it up again after such a layoff, you most likely played with most of the technique you used to have - albeit with considerable rust. So you gripped and fingered and bowed with more power, duration and intensity than your out-of-practice fingers could handle. Your need time to adapt and toughen 'em up.
A soak in warm-to-hot salt water will help ease the throbbing and soreness. I usually just use the same mix I make up for my neti pot - 3:1 salt to baking soda.
For really sore fingers (or feet!) try epsom salts, and a longer soaking.
Other things to watch for:
** limber up! ** playing a musical instrument utilizes both large and small muscle groups, and picking up an instrument after a hiatus uses muscles in ways they haven’t seen in a while. Do a few waist bends, swing your arms about, shake out your arms and wrists to get the blood flowing, then some light stretching, especially of the forearms and wrists.
** take it easy ** don’t expect it to come back right away! you will make better progress with a few weeks of shorter sessions than a few days of marathon sessions in the woodshed.
** return to fundamentals ** - start with some basic scale and then move onto some simple melodys. Focus on tone production and a strong rhythmic feel. Then move onto arpeggios and more complex melodic pieces.
** define what you’re doing ** - are you picking it up to perform again? just to enjoy playing? do you want to study again? are you looking to explore new musical territory?
Write this down, and craft a game plan/goal set for yourself. It doesn’t have to be big, but a set of tangible goals to work towards makes your practice more realistic and fulfilling.
I’ve never played violin so I don’t know if tendonitis/carpal tunnel syndrome is a big issue, but if you use the computer a lot and plan on playing alot one thing you need to monitor is how your hands and wrists and forearms are feeling and learn to back off when something feels funny. What you don’t want to do is strain anything so it’s too painful to do either.
WEIRD. same age. same scenario. i picked up my kid sister’s violin around thanksgiving and just recently started playing again. however my fingers aren’t chafed at all (or at least noticeably).
i’ve just been going through old suzuki books and whatever sheet music i can find online. is there a RIGHT way to derust? as long as you’re playing again right? trying to figure out the Fort Minor pop song right now.
I was hoping that there was some Secret De-Rusting Formula For Lapsed Violinists that I could, say, spray on myself and be right back where I was. However, I’m not surprised that the answer seems to be “Start playing again and continue doing so.”
This thread has reminded me of some of my private teacher’s favorite sayings. One was “There are no shortcuts on your violin” - if you want to get better, you need to just keep chugging away. I have a stash of old sheet music, some really simple stuff, and after a few awful attempts at plowing straight through it, I thought back to what she would have told my 14-year-old self, and broke it down measure-by-measure.
picker, your point about loosening up was something I had completely forgotten about, despite having been lectured about the importance of starting relaxed (and trying to stay relaxed while playing) for, oh, ten years or so.
I have plenty of time on my hands (unemployment wooo), but I think I’ll half my ambition of an hour a day. Worked great when I’d been playing continuously for ten years, but it seems that might be a bit much now.