Double Bass Warming up and keeping warm during the wintertime

[jheise]

Hi all,

we have a different central heating system in our house which is a lot more energy efficient but takes a little longer to warm up the house in the morning this year. Additionally, I changed my work/practice routine.
I practice a lot during the morning hours now before I start my day job and before the house is heated up to the regular temperatures. My fingers are probably "colder" in the morning, too. This was not an issue during summer/autumn. But now I think I have to adjust my "warm up" exercises to emphasize warming up my fingers - besides warming up musically.

Anybody in the same situation? What are your "warm up" exercises to get the blood flowing and keep the left hand warm during the winter time? Are you doing anything special?

 

[Don Hergert]

For various health reasons we keep our house warm -- between 73 and 75 degrees F all year long. What we don't control is humidity though, and this being a wet winter here, my hands are experiencing pretty severe arthritis lately, most noticeable in the mornings when I wake up. Usually once my hands are moving, practicing instruments or doing chores, the pain goes away for the most part, but the stiff joints and swelling can cause trouble.

My warm up exercise for my hands is doing dishes. Really. The hot water and detailed finger movement warms my hands and softens the arthritic joints, which helps a lot.

And, just on gig days I'll take an ortho dose of ibuprofen. That helps a lot for those special occasions.

 

[JKos]

and before the house is heated up to the regular temperatures

Have the house start warming earlier so it's up to temp when you start practicing? Do you have a programmable thermostat?

Take a nice, hot shower first thing in the morning?

- John

 

[Reiska]

My rehearsal cave gets cold at this time of the year and now it`s typical seasonal non-weather outside, very dark, cold and wet 24/7. I`m wishing for a real winter to arrive with frozen degrees and snow, and please, more daylight. My secret sauce is extra hoodie, wool socks and dry pair of shoes at the rehearsing spot. Fingers get and keep warm when rest of the system is warm. Other than that, no changes in my routine.

 

[jheise]

Thank you, good suggestions so far.

@dhergert: I'll look into doing the dishes in the morning. I guess my wife has no objections if I make doing the dishes 100% my responsibility (instead of shared duty).

@JKos: The room has a thermostat but it's a simple one and the central heating runs on one simple curve (daytime - heat, nighttime - sleep). I never looked into digital thermostats where I might program two heating curves. Do they exist? Because we use the room in the morning and after work in the afternoon/evening. But not during the day so I don't need the room heated up all day. The hot shower is no option - most of the house is still a construction site (we're renovating a lot) so the bathroom is not the friendliest room right now.

@Reiska: I tried that approach but: I'm sweating like a dog because my warmups include a lot of shifting but my fingers stay cold. So maybe I should change that part of my routine too.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

We live in an old victorian house, and the music room is the room farthest from the central heat. I keep a small space heater in the room for when I can't get warm enough.

 

[210superair]

Hi all,

we have a different central heating system in our house which is a lot more energy efficient but takes a little longer to warm up the house in the morning this year. Additionally, I changed my work/practice routine.
I practice a lot during the morning hours now before I start my day job and before the house is heated up to the regular temperatures. My fingers are probably "colder" in the morning, too. This was not an issue during summer/autumn. But now I think I have to adjust my "warm up" exercises to emphasize warming up my fingers - besides warming up musically.

Anybody in the same situation? What are your "warm up" exercises to get the blood flowing and keep the left hand warm during the winter time? Are you doing anything special?

Hot cup of coffee or tea always warns the hands up good on a cold morning. I also wear a compression glove on my left hand sometimes due to health issues and it will definitely keep the fb hand a little warmer, and playing after removing it seems easier too.

I also have a programmable thermostat, but it depends on the house, how many zones, etc. I usually practice in my garage which is heated and has its own thermostat, and it warms up really quickly. It's kinda my only 'me' space in the house. So throw a heater in the garage if you have one and plant your man flag!

 

[The Biz]

Vigorously (but safely in control!) step up and down onto a chair 5 or 6 times to get the heart pumping. If you are properly dressed, your hands will be warm quite quickly.

 

[Fleo]

Less coffee, the cafeine will extra activate a contraction reaction of the veines to cold, to eventually protect blood and heart temparture. At least that's what the doctor told me when I could not get my fingers warm anymore after they touched cold water. And it helped.

 

[JKos]

I never looked into digital thermostats where I might program two heating curves. Do they exist?

They sure do. Some can have as many settings in a day as you want.

Some even learn how long it takes a space to warm up (or cool down) and will adjust when it starts the heating (or air) accordingly. So, if you want it to be 70°F at 7:00 am, it would start heating before that based on the current room temp and the learned curves.

- John

 

[Cory Palmer]

Having a space heater in my practice space is very helpful in the winter. This is the newer version of what I use. It heats the room pretty quickly and it can direct the heat right to me if I want. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I also like doing long tones with a lot of vibrato to get my hands warmed up. I usually set the metronome on 60 and do two beats per bow playing each note twice. I also put a drone on the tonic note of whatever scale I’m doing.

 

[neilG]

When you are cold, the blood vessels in your extremities constrict in order to maintain blood flow to your core. If your core is warm you'll get better blood flow into your arms and hands. I find a fleece vest works well even if I'm wearing short sleeves. "Warm heart, warm hands" has some science behind it.

 

[Happy Steve]

A guitarist friend of mine uses a microwave-heatable wheat bag on cooler days before playing / during breaks.

 

[David Potts]

Two suggestions. The first is to find a pair of cheap knitted fingerless gloves. These should cover the palm and first phlanges of the fingers and thumb. If you can't find them to buy then cut the ends off fully fingered gloves. The second is to look out for small bags of fluid/gel sold in camping stores that heat up when you squeeze them in your pockets. They can be refreshed by heating in water on the stove.

 

[CaseyVancouver]

My practise room is a bit chilly but nothing like the outdoor gigs I say yes to. Amazing how conscious you get of steel strings tuning and the room temperature.

Chilly at home is ok but...

On those cold outdoor gigs I use fingerless gloves that have a mitten cap, cheap from the fishing shop. Great if you are an all weather cyclist too. I have played in minus 15 that gave me tendonitis, and caused others to miss gigs from the effects.

This pic is from the other night playing at the Vancouver Christmas Market, a German style event, which jheise may be familiar with. We are on a gazebo stage 15’ up. Those bright things are are heaters for us not stage lights, a couple of them out of sight. I hate to think of what the heaters are doing to my old carved bass with it’s hide glue. This gig is just one reason I have more than one upright.

What you don’t see is the frozen trumpet player, guitarist, drummer and a few thousand people. They pump our music out over the complex and I go direct into a pa.

Sheesh.