I do a fair amount of gardening/DIY/Woodworking, and have similar problems. One thing that I've found to be useful is wearing a snug-fitting glove with a rubberized palm and fingers (Grip is the common brand in Seattle). They significantly reduce the amount of hand strength you have to use to get a good grip on your tools. It at least mitigates the wear and tear a bit.
Guy -----Original Message----- From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of Anthony Hind Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 3:59 AM To: jean-michel Catherinot; Narada Cc: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [LUTE] Re: incompatibility gardening/lute playing? Dear Jean-Michel and Neil Thank you for your very useful reflections. It is a good idea to treat gardening in the same spirit as lute playing, with as relaxed an attitude and with as economic gestures as possible. It has been a long time since I had to do this, and I am almost certainly forcing things, and also still looking for the right tools to deal with a particularly hard ground. What oil or cream do you use, Jean-Michel? % I don't want to turn this into a gardening programme, but as Neil says these problems can also occur, just with carrying equipment. I will try out the various hot and cold water methods, and see how that goes. Thanks again Anthony __________________________________________________________________ De : jean-michel Catherinot <jeanmichel.catheri...@yahoo.com> A : lute@cs.dartmouth.edu; Anthony Hind <agno3ph...@yahoo.com> Envoye le : Mar 29 juin 2010, 12h 34min 08s Objet : Re : [LUTE] incompatibility gardening/lute playing? Wide experience in thaht stuff. Using tools needs also practice, and you have to be as decontracted while gardening as you're supposed to be while playing your lute. Treat your gardening tools kindly ("laisser l'outil travailler"), that means use his quality at his best without forcing it, use the right tool., and work quietly. You'll be less tired, with a better result, and no stiff hands.For me the problem is the dryness of the skin after having my hands in the ground: and using gardenning gloves is not a solution, it's even worse. You need some specific oil or cream to avoid that. That's all. Bon jardinage! __________________________________________________________________ De : Narada <blues.for.nar...@ntlworld.com> A : Anthony Hind <agno3ph...@yahoo.com>; lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Envoye le : Mar 29 juin 2010, 11h 55min 09s Objet : RE: [LUTE] incompatibility gardening/lute playing? Anthony, Interesting point. As guitarist playing in a working band ( as well as enjoying playing the Lute ) gigging on average 3 times a week with no roadcrew as such, shifting half a tonne of equipment twice nightly does have a tendancy to stiffen the fingers - as well as stiffening the back. I usually find that a couple of minutes with my hands in luke warm water, followed by a minute or so of clenching my hands and waggling my fingers helps a lot. I also occasionally suffer from what I call 'Hot Hand ' this is where the muscle between the thumb and first finger on my right hand swells and gets very painful due to lactic acid build up. For this I put my hand in very cold water to bring the swelling down. The same happens with my left hand occasionally, again I do the same thing. Hope this helps. Neil -----Original Message----- From: lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu [mailto:lute-...@cs.dartmouth.edu] On Behalf Of Anthony Hind Sent: 29 June 2010 10:10 To: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [LUTE] incompatibility gardening/lute playing? --- En date de : Mar 29.6.10, Anthony Hind <agno3ph...@yahoo.com> a ecrit : De: Anthony Hind <agno3ph...@yahoo.com> Objet: [LUTE] incompatibility gardening/lute playing? A: lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Date: Mardi 29 juin 2010, 9h09 Dear lutenists Recently, I have found myself having to do some rather heavy gardening, which appears to be almost incompatible with lute playing. the simple fact of being physically tired is part of it, but also the fingers seem less supple after clenching a spade or a pick-axe. One lute player told me that even carrying suit-cases to a performance, can make their fingers stiff; and certain lute makers told me that using a lute maker's tools can make lute playing more difficult; although there are some excellent lute maker-players, even among us. % Do others have similar impressions, and if so, are there any ideas on how to get round this, (apart, of course simply from getting someone else to carry your lutes, and do the gardening, or play your lutes): some exercise between activities to help prepare for playing, perhaps? % At present, I am back in my flat in Paris, and so playing as much as I can, in spite of the hot weather, which also makes things more difficult, and I have regained the suppleness, but I will soon have to go back to gardening. Thanks for any advice, Anthony -- To get on or off this list see list information at [1]http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html -- References 1. http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/%7Ewbc/lute-admin/index.html
