I HATE THE COLD!!

[Ace]

It's been cold and rainy the last two months here, and as a result I'm taking longer to warm up playing. It's cold and rainy right now, and instead of taking me 5-10 minutes of warming up to play at the level I want to, it now takes me 30+ minutes to get in the zone. Some days I get fed up and quit after I can't play my own songs after warming up for 20 minutes!! I should add that I play hard and fast, death/grind/thrash style. Anyone else pissed off by having to play in the cold?

[ApeDosMil]

Re: I HATE THE COLD!!

ya, it does suck. can't wait 'til spring arrives

[Emthrax]

Re: I HATE THE COLD!!

Ace move to Tex-Ass.
El Chupacabra can suck the blood right out of ya and you won't have anything to worry about ever again!

[pagemalicious]

Re: I HATE THE COLD!!

My band practices in our singers barn in his yard. Because his family has shit loads of money, it's huge and in the middle of a huge field which is his yard. No heating and the typical English weather is awful. Every practice me and the other guitarist have to stop playing because our hands are so cold we can't play anything. Pretty shitty as i love to shred, there's no way i can in that cold weather.

[thetroy]

Re: I HATE THE COLD!!

It takes me about 45 minutes to warm up, and I usually like to play for awhile 2 or 3 times during the day so I end up spending like 90 or 135 minutes each day just on warming up. Yes, it sucks a little bit being in the cold. Perhaps I should turn our heat up to 80 and just sweat it out.

[nonamemx]

Re: I HATE THE COLD!!

The skin on my fingers gets very dry and they crack around the fingernail when it gets cold (and the heater runs and dries out the house), making it painful to put pressure on them.

So I'm not a big fan of the cold either.

[RacerX]

Re: I HATE THE COLD!!

You practice inSIDE your house, not out in the yard, right? [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Baum83]

Re: I HATE THE COLD!!

We once had a rehearsal space that was not only hotter than it was on the outside in summer, but also colder than outside in spring/autumn/winter... so, while we were rehearsing our breath would condense, I'd get cramps in my fingers and whatnot, and when we'd go get a pizza we realized we could rather get our stuff outside and rehearse on the street. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
Anyway, I dislike playing in the cold as well. Way too high a risk of cramping up and hurting yourself, especially when playing fast stuff, and even with proper warmup routines.

[Child Of Norther]

Re: I HATE THE COLD!!

I live in scotland, go figure

[etaeniura]

Re: I HATE THE COLD!!

for the cracked skin around your fingers-get some rubber gloves-put neosporin or bacitracin around the tips of your fingers, and around the nail (but not on callouses), and then put the rubber gloves on before you go to bed at night. YOu can also use band aids, but you will go through alot of them. Within a few days of doing this you will notice a big improvement in your fingertips.

[nonamemx]

Re: I HATE THE COLD!!

Hey thanks, etaeniura.

[maddog]

Re: I HATE THE COLD!!

Yeah, I live in Scotland and it takes me 30 minutes to warm up in the summer!

[micha]

Re: I HATE THE COLD!!

I now that probs ace.
and I fear my best temperature for playing has to be incredible high, since I rarely reach it even in summer... [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

my last rehearsal-room was one of the cold ones too. I used to play the simply stuff with gloves on, on some days... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
but didn't really work that good.

[Shawn]

Re: I HATE THE COLD!!

The view out my window right now.... [img]/images/graemlins/eviltongue.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/eviltongue.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/eviltongue.gif[/img]




Shawn

[KevinDguitar]

Re: I HATE THE COLD!!

One of the things that I do for myself and have my students do, regardless of the temp/time of year, is wash their hands in warm to fairly hot water before warming up/practicing. It seems to help increase the blood flow, by simply doing a few mild stretches with the hands submersed in a sink of warm/hot water. Another benefit is that in the long run it'll save you a few bucks here and there on strings. Remember whatever is on your hands will wind up where ever you put them. LOL!
I also like doing this as a pre-practice ritual because it lets them clear their minds and focus on the task at hand..practice. Hope this makes sense to you. I seem to remember reading an interview with Steve Morse in Guitar for the Practicing Musician when I was younger and he mentioned doing something similar.