RustyBits Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 Lately my fingers have been slipping off the buttons. It makes me want to put rubber coating on the buttons! What is that about???? Am I just becoming uncoordinated?? Don't know my own strength?? I've tried putting on hand lotion and that helps for a minute. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henk van Aalten Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 Lately my fingers have been slipping off the buttons. It makes me want to put rubber coating on the buttons! What is that about???? Am I just becoming uncoordinated?? Don't know my own strength?? I've tried putting on hand lotion and that helps for a minute. Any suggestions? How about a rubber coating on your fingers: rubber gloves?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henk van Aalten Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 Lately my fingers have been slipping off the buttons. It makes me want to put rubber coating on the buttons! What is that about???? Am I just becoming uncoordinated?? Don't know my own strength?? I've tried putting on hand lotion and that helps for a minute. Any suggestions? How about a rubber coating on your fingers: rubber gloves?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 Lately my fingers have been slipping off the buttons. Maybe a little rosin on the fingertips would help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Besser Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 >Lately my fingers have been slipping off the buttons As a guitar player, I use a product called (I kid you not) Gorilla Snot, which makes your fingers just tacky enough to hold on to a pick when you're sweating on stage. But I've always washed it off before switching to concertina because of concerns it would somehow work its way into the mechanism. Maybe some of our more mechanically inclined colleagues can say whether my fears are justified. I asked this question myself a few years ago. At the time I was using only my Herrington; Harold told me he switched to a different button shape because of the slippage problem. But I've noticed that as I get more proficient and have better finger control, it's less of a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shiny buttons Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 try dusting hands with talcum powder, and clean excess off before playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted April 17, 2004 Share Posted April 17, 2004 Am I just becoming uncoordinated?? Probably. Well, not "uncoordinated", but did you change anything about the way you play just before this started to happen? Even something like the adjustment of the hand straps? In particular, anything that might have changed even slightly the position of your hands or fingers? The important thing is that the tips of your fingers should strike directly downward on the centers of the buttons. Do they do that? If not, try slight adjustments to your hand and finger positions -- including flexing slightly the tip joints of the fingers -- to see if you can't come closer to that ideal. You could have Teflon against grease, and if you press straight down on the center, nothing should slip (anthropomorphically, because it shouldn't be able to decide which way to slip ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellowbelle Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 I can say that I was able to still play, wearing thin, disposable vinyl or plastic gloves (not bulky rubber types, though). I found boxes of large quantities at a flea market, but sometimes I find them in grocery stores near the baking goods (some are meant for bakers). I wore them due to sore, split skin on the fingers, but, I did notice that I was able to play....maybe they would stop slipping, too. Another idea...try the paper tape sold for sensitive skin, near bandaids, at the pharmacy. I bought a roll of it the other day. It's very thin. Maybe that would help(?). Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 In a sminilar vein, in my former life as a harp player, persperation on the finger tips during summer (or in an over-heated room) was also a problem. A professional orchestral harp player put me onto Tincture of Myrrh. Bought from a essential oils supplier, a small drop or two instantly dried the skin and solved the problem. The Tintcure didn't damage the strings at all, which were made or nylon or steel. (Note: I have very sensitive skin and the tincture gave me no problems, but keep a cloth handy to wipe it off just in case). Hope this helps Morgana Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animaterra Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 Lisa, I've recently had a similar problem, and the thought just occurred to me: you'n me live up here in the Frozen North, and all of a sudden it's actually WARM around here! Could you have sweaty little fingers? I'm going to try to wipe my digits and the buttons as well before I try playing today- geez, it's supposed to be 70 F, for goodness sakes! Heat wave! Allison-basking-in-the-sunshine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helen Posted April 18, 2004 Share Posted April 18, 2004 When I would go to lap dulcimer (as opposed to hammer dulcimer) camp, people would get sore fingers. We would use something called Nuskin or Newskin. Anyway it is in drugstores probably near bandaids or bandages. It is a liquid bandage thingy. It might make your fingers a little rough which would keep you from falling off. We let it dry, which happens quickly. Didn't damage the strings. Have no idea about concertina buttons. We all used it and loved it. Helen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam B Posted April 19, 2004 Share Posted April 19, 2004 Well - nothing technical here.... When I get nervous (aka playing for someone) my fingers tend to sweat. I have a bar towel, Guinness of course, that I use for two purposes. I put in on my pant leg, with the concertina on top, for a little more tracking if I am wearing slippery slacks, and the towel is right there for a quick wipe, if the fingers start to slip. Pam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Madge Posted April 19, 2004 Share Posted April 19, 2004 Ihave used a spray deoderant in the past to stop sweaty fingers. Wipe off the excess and it works for several hours. However, I only used it if I really had to, playing outside in fierce (for Britain) sunshine on a humid day. It did leave me feeling that I had reduced the sensitivity of the finger tips, rather the same as if playing with cold fingers. When having to play in the cold, near freezing, I use fingerless gloves but have to make sure not to get them caught on the fretwork! Robin Madge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted April 19, 2004 Share Posted April 19, 2004 Ihave used a spray deoderant in the past to stop sweaty fingers. Robin, are you responding to Lisa, or to others who have gone before you in this Topic (I'm definitely not trying to single you out)... those who mentioned sweaty fingers? Lisa said her fingers were slipping off the buttons. She didn't say it was caused by sweat. ... Is it, Lisa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Nixon Posted April 19, 2004 Share Posted April 19, 2004 Hi friends, I suggest that the use of Surgical Spirit for your fingers would help to reduce the slipping off the keys. It would also tend to prevent soreness just in case (as a maybe learner player) you are still finding your best set-up etc., I had to use Surgical Spirit to help when I first started to learn to play the String Bass many years ago. Good Luck. JOHN NIXON. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyBits Posted April 19, 2004 Author Share Posted April 19, 2004 Lisa said her fingers were slipping off the buttons. Nope. Even when I come straight down on the buttons my fingers slip. Maybe the domed top of the buttons is too steep? I may try a little rosin on my fingers and see if that helps. I'll keep all the "sweaty finger" suggestions in mind too. I'm sure that will be an issue this summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick King Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 Hello all, I started to have the problem of sweaty finger-tips, and that would cause my fingers to slip-off the keys on my C/G Morse, 32-Key (same layout as the Jeffries C/G;) and at the same time I would get sweaty palm, which would be extemely annoying with the sweaty fingers. I started to wash and dry my hands very thoroughly when this problem first started (8 moths exactly ) and it worked for a while. It then came back again after using that method for about 5 months . I then thought it was probably caused due to the fact that I would play along to recordings that were on my computer in my room. Now, my room is a fairly small one (but I get to have it to myself because I'm 15 .) I got to thinking it was due to the fact that there was only 1 window in my room, so therefore, it isn't very well-ventilated at all. So, my journey goes to the outside world, of sitting down on a comfortable wooden chair, playing melodies along with the birds. ( or so it used to be before those Indian Myna Birds hunted all the other birds away. There are only the occasional magpie, parrot, and rosella; those Indian Myna birds are the reason we're going to try get hold of a few traps to decrease their population ) Anyway, playing outside... the sweat-bath has had it's revenge. I was wondering if anyone could give me any facts on how to stop my hands from sweating all the time, or possibly give me some suggestions. It is ruining my favourite time of the day. Please help. Best Wishes to all, Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 Hello all, I started to have the problem of sweaty finger-tips, and that would cause my fingers to slip-off the keys on my C/G Morse, 32-Key (same layout as the Jeffries C/G;) and at the same time I would get sweaty palm, which would be extemely annoying with the sweaty fingers. I started to wash and dry my hands very thoroughly when this problem first started (8 moths exactly ) and it worked for a while. It then came back again after using that method for about 5 months . I then thought it was probably caused due to the fact that I would play along to recordings that were on my computer in my room. Now, my room is a fairly small one (but I get to have it to myself because I'm 15 .) I got to thinking it was due to the fact that there was only 1 window in my room, so therefore, it isn't very well-ventilated at all. So, my journey goes to the outside world, of sitting down on a comfortable wooden chair, playing melodies along with the birds. ( or so it used to be before those Indian Myna Birds hunted all the other birds away. There are only the occasional magpie, parrot, and rosella; those Indian Myna birds are the reason we're going to try get hold of a few traps to decrease their population ) Anyway, playing outside... the sweat-bath has had it's revenge. I was wondering if anyone could give me any facts on how to stop my hands from sweating all the time, or possibly give me some suggestions. It is ruining my favourite time of the day. Please help. Best Wishes to all, Patrick Slipping fingertips. It should not be too difficult to cap the buttons with some sort of non-slip material... (plastic/rubber). The capping could be domed, flat or even slightly concave...not permanently glued to the buttons but close-fitting caps. Not so tight as to prevent their removal if unsuccessful. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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