Don’t let anyone tell you playing the piano can’t be violent.
At the end of each show of almost two full hours of piano playing, every single vein in my hand has popped out as far as it can go. Even strange veins that stretch between my index finger and my thumb. After a while they recede, but until then it’s like I’m mid-transformation into The Hulk.
My hands are aching and I have some glissando induced injuries. For those not in the know, a glissando is when you run your finger up or down the keyboard hitting either all the white or all the black notes. One early gliss today was rather brutal and it felt like I caught a chunk of skin on the side of a particularly rough key, which is odd because that part of my finger is calloused up from umpteen prior “glissters”. I also have a patch of blood that is emerging near my index fingernail due to my upward gliss action. It’s quite sore so I only played downward glissandi tonight.
Apart from bruised and bloodied hands, I’ve developed a sore throat, but that’s hardly a surprise given the weather and my current patterns. One more show tomorrow, then my real weekend starts (my weekend is now Monday/Tuesday given that I work or “work” every other day).
If your hands are all veiny, I have a friend who would love to run her fingers all over them… it’s her thing.
Music should come with a health warning
Kevin – I’ll try to avoid that friend, if that’s okay.
Conortje – When you order a grand piano, they should ask if you’d like the “calloused hands” or “RSI wrists” on the keyboard lid. Nevermind, it’s an Australian reference.