For some reason I've managed to avoid glissandi for most of my life but in the past few months I have had to face them with terrifying frequency, so much so that I was developing quite the phobia of them because of the incredible pain and messiness I was experiencing.
Too many glissandi = painful fingers = one very unhappy pianist
It started with being enlisted to play the harp parts on an electric keyboard for a local production of the Nutcracker in December. I had such romantic notions of being able to imitate a harp player, ripping my fingers across the keyboard with the grace that a harp player has when ripping off the glissandi that are sprinkled throughout the score. Unfortunately it didn't take many exuberant attempts on my part before I found myself wincing in pain and getting a pang of nausea every time I saw another one coming. It wasn't long after then that blood was drawn which created a bit of a precarious situation. At intermission I found myself a mess in more ways than one. I managed to scrounge up some bandaids from some of the little mice's mothers backstage. I thought the bandaids would work but they were no match and were completely shredded by the end of the performance.
Over the next few days I tried every type of bandaid I could find. I tried Super Glue. I tried New Skin. Nothing helped. I somehow made it through all four Nutcracker performances but my fingers were not pretty by the end.
With all this said, imagine my delight when I returned to work recently only to discover that many of the saxophonists I'm accompanying are playing pieces with glissandi in them for their recitals. Ahhh, lovely.
I thought the break would have helped my fingers but nope. The minute I went for my first you-know-what, I saw blood start pool at the base of my nail. What to do? What to do? Should I leave the glissandi out? No, I can't do that! They are so perfect for the pieces and I can't let these students down.
It was as I was driving to a performance recently and passed a CVS that an idea popped into my head. Are you ready for this?
Corn relief pads. Yep, that's right!
I quickly pulled into the CVS parking lot, ran inside and perused the corn-relief aisle - I first for me. It was fascinating. There must be lots of corn sufferers out there! Anyway, my eyes eventually settled on this...
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| My new love! |
They weren't cheap but we're talking about my fingers! These little strips are truly amazing. It's like a clear bandaid but the pad that covers the corn (or brutally damaged finger) is filled with gel. Really cool, comfy gel. Ahhhhh...
So I tried one of these that same afternoon. Felt great for the first glissando but then my fingers started sticking to the keys. It wasn't long before I started seeing and feeling little globules of shredded bandaid all over. OK, that didn't work!
Guiltily cleaning off the keys post-performance that day, I thought back to a conversation I had with a colleague of mine about my glissandi travails. She had mentioned the possibility of using electrical tape instead of a bandaid. Bring on a lightbulb moment!
Combine the Dr. Scholl's corn pain relief strips with...
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| Electrical tape even comes in pretty colors! |
...and you've got yourself some heavy duty glissando busters!
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| The pianist's version of a manicure! |
I just got back from a dress rehearsal where I put this little combination to a test and I have to say, I had the most fun I've ever had while playing those glissandos. Not one once of pain, no nausea.
I am a wimpy pianist no more!!
So bring on those glissandi - I beg you!!!
And dear Dr. Scholl's, please, please, don't stop making these gems. The piano world needs you! If you need a spokesperson, I'd be happy to oblige.
If any pianists have any other suggestions or solutions for glissandi issues, please do share!
Ms. Mutz,
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading and commenting. And you're right - we're willing to put up with a lot! I actually enjoy odd challenges like this one. Definitely keeps me on my toes...or fingers!
All the best,
Erica
Ever tried just using the pads of your fingers? I've had to cover harp parts for a couple shows, and as counterintuitive as it seems, it actually helped me to avoid using my nails entirely. I think the nails might be easier to get more sound out of, but (at least for me) I had better endurance results palm-down.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
DeleteI have tried that. It's hard for me to get an angle that feels right and that depresses all the keys in an even way, especially on the synthesizer. I felt like I had to really cock my wrist funny and it didn't feel too great. Not that bloodying my fingers felt any better, lol! I'm really glad it works for you though! Thanks for reading and for sharing what works for you!
Happy (or not-so-happy) glissandoing.
Erica
The worst glissandos I've ever had to play so far are the ones in Ravel's Mother Goose (especially the ones at the end), probably nothing compared to what you've had to do. But I had the same problem when working up to a performance of it last year. I discovered that if I got the right angle it didn't hurt any more, but the problem is, it's hard to get the right angle on the spur of the moment, and every time I practised the glissandos I'd injure my fingers! Somehow though, on the day of the performance, I got it absolutely right and not only did I play them better than I ever had before, but there was absolutely no pain either! I'll keep in mind your solution next time I have to do glissandos :)
ReplyDeleteOooo, yes, Dorothea...I know those glissandos very, very well. They are exquisite and so perfect in the context of the piece but owwwwww. And you're so right about it being difficult, especially in the moment, to get the hand at the perfect angle to avoid any pain or blood-shedding. I'm so glad you managed to pull them off though! Quite a feat!
DeleteThanks for reading and if you give this solution a try, do report back. I'd love to hear if it worked for you.
All the best,
Erica
I hardly ever play glissandi in my practice sessions. I play the starting note and ending note and "ghost" the rest, that is I travel over the keys but don't actually press them (the hardest part is ending on the right note anyway). I wouldn't be embarassed or apologetic about not playing glissandi all the time in rehearsal with your saxophonists if there are lots and you risk drawing blood (this is "wear and tear" and the more you do it, the more likely you are to draw blood... )This of course doesn't solve the problem for when you have to do many of them in concert. I don't know if you've ever tried doing a thumb gliss - it's kind of fun and gives a different sound and might also take the stress off your other fingers for a bit. Just a thought. Also, medical tape (the kind they sell in drugstores) would probably work in the same capacity as electrical tape. I've used it on my fingertips a lot.
DeleteGood idea not to actually play them in practice, Geneviève. I try to keep that in mind but tend to get a bit carried away and do them anyway. Silly me!
DeleteI don't know that I've ever done a thumb glissando - I'm curious about that. Is it done with the fleshy part? And I'll take a look at medical tape. I've used something similar, I believe, and I think it got pretty shredded on the keyboard mid-glissando but maybe what I was using was different.
Thanks for the tips and for reading!
Erica
The thumb gliss is done with the fingernail, same as the regular one. It gives a more brilliant sound (and surprisingly, sometimes more volume). It takes a bit of getting used to but in some places I actually prefer it to the 3-finger gliss.
ReplyDeleteFor the medical tape, the waterproof kind is good, the paper-like kind is completely useles. I used to have a this problem where the skin would split at the tip of the finger right under the nail, so I tried all kinds of tape and glue-like things to keep my fingers from bleeding onto the keys and to minimise the discomfort and waterproof medical tape was the winner. The only problem is that it doesn't look terribly elegant on stage, but oh well. (fortunately the problem went away after a few years and a technique overhaul and only re-appears occasionally in peak season and/or extreme cold (I live in Montreal).
Since we're on the topic of minor injuries, I've recently been introduced to "opsite" by a doctor friend who is also a musician. It's a super-thin, waterproof, transparent dressing - kind of like a second skin. You don't really feel it. It's especially great for fingertips where bandaids just don't work. You can't get it in drugstores (at least not here) but you can order it online.
All the best with the glissandi !!
Thanks for the further info on thumb glissandi, Geneviève. I will definitely give it a try! And I'm going to also check out opsite - sounds like a good solution!
Delete-Erica
Nice--I wish I'd had someone advise me of this in 8th grade, when I had to accompany the choir on an over-weighted Steinway (which they promised they'd fix, but of course didn't). To make things worse, I had a wart or callous of some kind right on the part of the finger that I had to use! I ended up bandaging the finger, but since then I've avoided/fudged any glisses that have come my way (in the Waldstein, I just go for the octaves!)
ReplyDeleteOooo, ouch. Not a good combination there! Hopefully next time you see some glisses in the score you'll consider bandaging yourself up and giving them a try. They really can be pretty fun when they're not painful!
DeleteThanks for reading and happy playing!
Erica
Combine black key glissando in a piece created for beginners and you've got kids in pain. My solution was to use a dollar store black glove, cut the fingers out of it and get them to use the knuckle on their thumb, now covered with the glove to do the glissando. No pain and they could still play with the fingers cut out of the glove.
ReplyDeleteMary,
DeleteThat's a brilliant solution for your kids and maybe for myself as well if I can find one that would match whatever I'm wearing at the time - I'm not sure if I'm quite ready to let go of my vanity when it comes to performance time. ;-)
Thanks for the suggestion and for reading!
Erica