Help getting a good grip on the chanter...

[fiddlinviolinin]

Errr, I don't mean getting a piper's grip or anything, but whenever I play, sometimes my hands will be really smooth and won't really have a good grip on my chanter. As a result, my bottom hand usually doesn't end up covering the holes completely because they always keep on slipping... Anything I could use to get a better grip?

Cheers,
Armand

[ausdag]

Sounds disgusting but I find that moistening my fingers by licking them and then rubbing them together lightly to spread the moisture over the playing surface of my hands adds some 'grip' to my fingers.

Cheers,

DavidG

[piperdoc]

or, a little less gross, moisturising hand cream like Eucerin. There are such things around workplaces where one works with one's hands (like mine).
i thought i have had every beginner's glitch possible but i havn't had that one. what is with the finish on your chanter?

meir

[djm]

I get this in winter when it is so dry here. I have to agree with ausdag - a lick and a promise.

djm

[Ailin]

I have found that washing my hands with soap and hot water before playing not only helps keep my chanter clean but seems to make my fingers a little more sensitive to the location and proper covering of the chanter holes. Perhaps it also helps keep the fingers from slipping.

Ailin

[fiddlinviolinin]

These are some lip smackin' ideas! Thanks guys =P Finger lickin' good..

[David Lim]

I was once told by a piper that the best thing for this problem was udder cream as used on dairy cattle.

I've not tried it myself so cannot pass an opinion.

David

[piperman07]

I was once told by a piper that the best thing for this problem was udder cream as used on dairy cattle.

I've not tried it myself so cannot pass an opinion.

David

I have used it, works well, non greasy. You can get it at Walgreens or Longs, most pharmacies have it. Find it with the hand cream.
It is especially good when it's very dry and you need to hold smooth objects without making them slippery.

I know, it's dry in New Mexico.

Steve

[fancypiper]

I usually wash/soak my hands and apply Palmers Cocoa Butter hand lotion and rub it in well (ah, chocolate hands). Then I can relax my fingers until I can feel the "buzz" in the tone holes.

I had to have a guide for my bottom ring finger on my C chanter, though, because I have had surgery for Dupuytren's contracture and the scar is directly over the hole, which makes it hard to feel the buzz on the C chanter. My D chanter buzzes so much that I can feel it while I can't feel the C chanter.

I guess that is because the holes are so much smaller on the C.

[Joseph E. Smith]

If you work up a little perspiration (or a good frothy sweat... ) while practicing, rub a little into your hands. It works wonders on the grip, plus it adds a little natural oil onto your chanter... helping to keep its outside from drying out.

[myrddinemrys]

It's not a question of where he grips it . . .

[tommykleen]

Bag balm is what I use during the long cold Minnesota winters. Is there nothing it can't do?

A little oil from your own skin works in a pinch. Locations to try (especially in public) are the nose, forehead and back of the neck. I know, yeccchhh!

That part about feeling the buzz on your fingers is a really good point IMO. Especially for embyonic pipers.

t

[Dionys]

I'd also reccomend Palmer's cocoa butter (not the thin, liquidy kind but the block of cocoa butter) in the mornings, but not just before you play. Badger Balm makes a *great* hand salve that has beeswax among other things in it that you can use closer to playing without feeling 'greasy.' It helps give a good seal for those with dryer skin and smaller fingers.

Best,
Dionys

[fancypiper]

I like the cocoa butter on my bodhran as well.

[djm]

Well, I thought Jello in the bathtub would be interesting. How was I to know we would get a change in the weather so suddenly ....

djm