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Will violinists have calluses on their fingertips?
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David Burns
Winfield, Missouri

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September 3, 2011 - 8:43 am
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My finger tips are pretty soft as I am required to wear gloves for everything I do at work. My violin playing was a bit painful at first, now my left fingers are tougher. The skin is a bit thicker at the tips. The only thing that bothers me is there is also a slight loss of feeling with the thickened skin. I have never cut myself on a string, but I have had a groove in my fingertips that took a while to go away.

 

Dave

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Huey142
Melaka,Malaysia

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September 3, 2011 - 10:24 am
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Jauniba said:

What's far worse is the violin/viola hickie you can develop under your jaw. Especially if you're in high school. And then when someone asks you who gave it to you and you have to say it's your viola.

LOL. There's such thing? I never knew. Hahahah

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Jauniba
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September 3, 2011 - 11:40 am
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Seriously. I recall even having a stab of jealousy that mine wasn't that big. It's almost a mark of pride....means you're practicing hard. The size of your hickie was almost directly proportional to your place amongst the other violinists or violists in the orchestra.

My electric violin gives me a huge and painful mark on my collarbone. I rarely feel it when playing, but afterwards it's sore. It's probably not the violin but rather the shoulder rest, and i think it's about time I picked up a new one. Never ever had any issues with the strings on my fingertips. Never even really heard of that, actually.

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pky
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September 3, 2011 - 8:20 pm
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I remembered when i trried to learn to play guitar I had calluses on my finger tips, I didn't remember how long I played and when I started to get them.

I started to play violin a month ago, and about a week or two ago, I noticed that I started to have thicker skin on my finger tips of my left hand, especially on my ring finger, a little on my index finger, very little on my middle finger, but not at all on my pinkie. Any way, when i played guitar, they were far worse.

I don't know it the time or the strings make a difference. For the first two weeks I had steel strings, and i just put dominant strings on a week ago and then i played less, so I think the calluses developed from the steel strings.

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Fiddlerman
Fort Lauderdale
September 4, 2011 - 3:38 am
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Jauniba said:

Seriously. I recall even having a stab of jealousy that mine wasn't that big. It's almost a mark of pride....means you're practicing hard. The size of your hickie was almost directly proportional to your place amongst the other violinists or violists in the orchestra.

My electric violin gives me a huge and painful mark on my collarbone. I rarely feel it when playing, but afterwards it's sore. It's probably not the violin but rather the shoulder rest, and i think it's about time I picked up a new one. Never ever had any issues with the strings on my fingertips. Never even really heard of that, actually.

Some people get those marks real easy and others play like crazy and theirs do not show. Most professional violinists have a hickey on their neck where the chin-rest makes contact. I always have but mine is not all that big regardless of how much I play.

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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artroland
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September 5, 2011 - 2:35 pm
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One thing I remember from playing the violin was when my instructor told me to stop trying to push my finger impression into the board. It stuck with me through my playing, and translated into my bass guitar playing. Looking to see if I still have it when my new violin arrives. 

One wonders if the damage would have been as severe had the chicken not been tied to the barrel.

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Fiddlerman
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September 5, 2011 - 2:52 pm
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It is very true about pressing too much however, too little will not get you a good sound. Press enough so that the string makes contact with the fingerboard.

violin

"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."

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Mad_Wed
Russia, Tatarstan rep. Kazan city
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October 13, 2011 - 11:27 am
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Yeah! Pressure - is a best friend to calluses!

Since i've got an e-voilin, my fingers went to a bloody mess.. duncecap When my teacher saw this she asked me to show my e-v to her. Main troubles were: too low fingerboard and strings too high (despite of extremely sanded bridge). She sent me to the violin master - he fixed all problems. In a week my fingers returned to a normal state laugh

But that's not a story with happy end yet.. I still have problems with extra pressure. yell And still fight with that bad habit!

So if you have a REALLY big and painful calluses - think about your instrument- maybe it needs a visit to a master too? 

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