Piano lovers are so good at it because of one thing, and that is practicing.
However, one thing that comes along with lots of practice in any activity is sweating.
When your hands are all sweaty, and your fingers are wet, you tend to lose traction and slide all over the place easily.
Sweaty hands are especially a problem when you hit the wrong chords and keep missing the notes.
If it is a professional session, it can get even more intense trying to maintain the tones with your sneaky fingers.
Some people have learned ways of keeping their hands dry, which has been a huge reap for their careers.
Hence, How Can You Deal With Sweaty Hands Playing The Piano?
Even better, there are several ways of keeping your hands dry when playing Piano that can be helpful for you too.
Below are a few tips to help you keep your hands dry when playing Piano.
1. Always Keep A Hand Towel With You
Using a towel or handkerchief is probably the most customary way to keep your hands dry, but hey, it works well when called.
Most preferably, using a hand towel works better with practice sessions over performance.
It is so unlikely to get a chance of wiping your hands while in the 15th note.
However, it is important to have a hand towel with you at all times for when the chance presents itself to wipe your hands dry.
Even then, when choosing your hand towel or handkerchief, it is important to make the right choices.
For example, a paper towel is a good option, but it tears real fast and can be blown away if the performance area has a vent.
A cotton towel is the best option for several reasons.
First of all, it is durable and easy to wash. Even better, make it a small size, just enough to fit in your pocket.
2. Turn down the AC
While body reaction contributes to sweaty hands, the environment and temperature around is also a big contributor.
Keeping the temperatures low by turning down the AC can turn out to be a great success factor in your piano performance.
There are temperatures above which your body will most definitely respond to trying to cool down.
It is always good to master the temperature beyond which you cant perform with comfort.
Knowing your relative temperature will help you turn the AC down without affecting other people in the room.
3. Take A Break
Taking a break is particularly a good tip for when you are practicing.
If you are expecting to perform after your practice session, make sure to take at least 25 minutes break to cool your body down.
Even between the practice session, it is important to take periodic breaks to keep your body corrected.
However, when it comes to performance, taking breaks might come in handy, making this tip less applicable. Even then, take any chance you get to cool down.
4. Wash your hands
Washing your hands to cool them down is a great tip for performing and having barely any time to rest within a break to cool down.
Washing your hands with running water will cool them down.
Even better, you can try using any alcohol content to cool your hands down.
Alcohol content like sanitizer found in washrooms helps evaporate the sweat on your skin and contracts the skin, closing the breathing poles temporarily.
5. Slow Things Down A Bit
Sometimes things are moving so first that your body can’t help but race.
At this point, the need for cooling is detected by the body, and the cooling mechanism begins, which ends up in sweaty hands.
It is always not just the movement of the hands that gets you sweaty; it’s your mind racing, perhaps with the dazzling atmosphere.
At this point, what you need is to slow things down a little, just enough not to affect your notes.
Controlling your mind by slowing things down helps in calming your nerves.
Even better, slowing things down reduces tension and nervousness that also causes sweating, especially in unfamiliar territories.
6. Use Antiperspirant
There are several known effective sweat block treatments for people with sweating problems.
These treatments that come in the form of cream and lotion are a chance of keeping your hands dry when performing or practicing.
One thing you need to know about these products, however, is that you should always make sure your hands are clean before application.
Applying the lotion on clean hands maintains the effectiveness. Even better, make sure to apply a few minutes before the performance to allow the Antiperspirants time to work their purpose.
Conclusion
Having sweaty hands is disgusting, especially when doing any activity that requires the use of hands.
However, when it comes to playing piano, it is even discouraging because the fingers need to maintain their grip to push only the right key.
Sweaty hands when playing Piano not only affects your accuracy but also reduce your confidence.
The good thing is that most people have mastered techniques that help them keep their hands dry when playing the Piano.
The thing, however, is that some techniques might not help so much, especially when performing.
Wiping your hands dry, for example, can come in handy when you are constantly required to keep your hands on the keys.
The key, therefore, is to master as many tips for keeping your hands dry regardless of the performance.
To attain that, you might want to try some artificial methods like using Antiperspirants to stay dry.
Even better, you can keep the room within a temperature that allows no sweating. Whatever works best for you, make sure your hands are dry.
Related
References
Tips For Playing Piano With Sweaty Hands
Liszt and the Keyboard – An Illustrated Lecture
How to Get Rid of Sweaty Hands: 6 Quick Tips