Why can't guitarists wash dishes?
Steve Richter
>James H. Choi (pha...@merle.acns.nwu.edu) wrote:
>: More than once I was told "So you cannot wash dishes" when I
>: telll someone I play the guitar.
>: Is there any reasoning behind it, other than softening of
>: calluses or finger nails? But don't they come back to normal
>: once your hands are dry?
>Alas, my callouses stay rough or peel off, rather than drying good as new. Of
>course, I'm an extremist, known to hold my hand above my head even during long
>hot showers ;-)
>Lisa
My wife won't let me play guitar unless I do wash the dishes...
SteveR
Craig Carlson
>James H. Choi (pha...@merle.acns.nwu.edu) wrote:
>: More than once I was told "So you cannot wash dishes" when I
>: telll someone I play the guitar.
>
>: Is there any reasoning behind it, other than softening of
>: calluses or finger nails? But don't they come back to normal
>: once your hands are dry?
>
Seriously... I wash alot of dishes. When I recently started playing alot
more, my fingertips really hurt.
Get those yellow gloves, they really help (also useful as a marital aid).
Craig
Charlie Gibbs
(James H. Choi) writes:
>More than once I was told "So you cannot wash dishes" when I
>telll someone I play the guitar.
>
>Is there any reasoning behind it, other than softening of
>calluses or finger nails? But don't they come back to normal
>once your hands are dry?
That's probably all there is to it. But it's a good excuse,
isn't it? :-)
Me, I'm an active scuba diver. Try playing after soaking your
fingers in salt water for several hours. Recommended for masochists.
Charli...@mindlink.bc.ca
If your nose runs and your feet smell, you're built umop-apisdn.
soup-t...@earthlink.net
>lis...@bu.edu (lisa gade) wrote:
>>James H. Choi (pha...@merle.acns.nwu.edu) wrote:
>>: telll someone I play the guitar.
>>
>>: Is there any reasoning behind it, other than softening of
>>: calluses or finger nails? But don't they come back to normal
>>: once your hands are dry?
>>
The way I solved that problem is by getting married!(it's a
joke...please no flames) However, my wife, like myself, is a guitar
player as well and soap and water has never hurt either of our hands.
Craig
D. Glenn Arthur Jr.
James H. Choi <pha...@merle.acns.nwu.edu> wrote:
>More than once I was told "So you cannot wash dishes" when I
>telll someone I play the guitar.
I've never had anyone throw that line at me, but I do have
relevant experience...
>Is there any reasoning behind it, other than softening of
>calluses or finger nails? But don't they come back to normal
>once your hands are dry?
One semester in college, my work-study (part of my financial
aid) was working in the cafeteria. Whenever I unloaded the
dishwasher -- a continuous-feed conveyor-type setup using
_REALLY_ hot water and amazingly harsh chemicals -- my calluses
would peel off. Maybe not the first day, but _certainly_ after
a second day in a row.
My nails were weaker, too, but given how strong mine usually
are, that was minor compared to what it did to my left hand.
*ugh*!
I've never had serious problems washing my own dishes (or mine
and my lover's and a guest's, for example), though sometimes
it's not a great idea to start playing _immediately_ after doing
the dishes. (Depends on how long your hands have been in the
hot water.)
BTW, I spent four semesters working in the library. I'm sure
that shifting & reshelving had a lot to due with my developing
enough grip strength to play barre chords! (I never had a lot
of hand/arm strength when I was younger.)
--
D. Glenn Arthur Jr./The Human Vibrator, gl...@access.digex.com
"Being a _man_ means knowing that one has a choice not to act like a 'man'."
-- Due to chronic wrist/arm pain, the degree to which I keep up with --
-- reading news varies greatly from week to week. I might miss followups. --
Chifuru Noda
have a dog, he/she can clean dishes very well...... My dog, Mikke, can
answer any other questions. I do wish, however, that he can tune my
guitar since his hearing is supposedly better than mine Arf Arf
Cheers
Chief
PlaidHabit
James H. Choi (pha...@merle.acns.nwu.edu) wrote:
: More than once I was told "So you cannot wash dishes" when I
: telll someone I play the guitar.
: Is there any reasoning behind it, other than softening of
: calluses or finger nails? But don't they come back to normal
: once your hands are dry?
I washed dishes for the summer a few years back, and I found that it
did effect my playing. First of all, it dries your hands out
tremendously, and just makes them uncomfortable. Second, was all the
HOT stuff I had to touch. I had to grab dishes out of the dishwasher
in a hurry, so they were often very hot, esp. the metal bowls. This
wreaked havok on my hands, and made them very tender and soft.... Not
good.
I would say that it is a BAD idea for guitarists.
--
*************************************************
* Ben. *
* The Slightly Messed-Up Home Page *
* http://www.skidmore.edu/~brunning/index.html *
* nuff said *
*************************************************
verkuilen john v
>More than once I was told "So you cannot wash dishes" when I
>telll someone I play the guitar.
>Is there any reasoning behind it, other than softening of
>calluses or finger nails? But don't they come back to normal
>once your hands are dry?
>James Choi
Because all the detergents and hot water leach the oils out of your
skin and dry your calluses out. I used to work in food service when I was an
undergrad and my hands were always sore, especially on dishwashing days.
The worst was pulling dishes from the machine, since the heat seemed to be
worse than the detergent (must have been hand-friendly).
Not that this stops me from washing dishes (let's be honest--laziness stops
me :) or from scrubbing the tub out, but I usually put hand lotion or a little
bit of vegetable oil on afterwards, and avoid playing for a few hours.
However, the food service experience it just too much for a quick recovery. :(
--
Jay Verkuilen ja...@uiuc.edu
"A human society without conflict would be a society not of friends, but of
ants." --Sir Karl Popper, _Unended Quest_
btif...@pbs.org
> James H. Choi wrote:
>> : More than once I was told "So you cannot wash dishes" when I
>> : telll someone I play the guitar.
>> [...]
> Alas, my callouses stay rough or peel off, rather than drying good as new. Of
> course, I'm an extremist, known to hold my hand above my head even during long
> hot showers ;-)
I can and do wash dishes, change oil and mufflers, chop wood and carry logs,
etc. Being a male, I don't take long, hot showers (I take short, warm ones;
I leave the L-O-N-G, blisteringly hot ones to my wife and teenage daughters),
but in any case no matter what my callouses and fingerpicking nails have been
exposed to they very quickly return to normal.
Furthermore, it seems impossible to damage my nails playing the guitar. And
no matter how much I play, I have to file them every couple of days, because
playing guitar does not wear them in the slightest. I've found that it's
best to keep them fairly short; i.e., short enough to be sturdy and stay out
of my way and not drive me crazy when I'm not playing, but long enough to
play. This translates into 1/16" on my index finger, 1/8" on my ring finger,
half way in between on my middle finger and thumb.
More than you asked for, I know.
-- Bruce Tiffany
Daniel Maverick Falkoff
on this subject, I don't know if anyone said this
and appologize for wasting time, but:
Washing dishes is terrible (speaking as someone who
has had painful cracked finger tips most winters since
marrying and doing such wahing) but then there are
RUBBER GLOVES. They almost totally solve the problem.
Ana Liza Gracie
tomb...@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (Thomas F Brown) writes:
>Yeah, I've tried those excuses. Then she wants to know why
>sex isn't even worse for my nails, and I'm screwed.
^^^^^^^^^^^
So what's the problem? :)
I think the dishes thing must have been made up by some lazy guitarist
who wanted to get out of doing chores....
Adam
==-=--=---=----=-----=-------=--------=--------=-------=-----=----=---=--=-==
Adam Schneider schn...@maroon.tc.umn.edu Minneapolis, MN
If you want guitar chords for Mary Chapin Carpenter, Indigo Girls,
Mary Karlzen, Nanci Griffith, etc., go to my World Wide Web page:
http://www.umn.edu/nlhome/m161/schn0170/acs.html
==-=--=---=----=-----=-------=--------=--------=-------=-----=----=---=--=-==
David Alfano
secret? Simple. Use rubber gloves. I discovered this long ago, when
I was fretting <tee hee> about my callouses softening. Added bonus:
you drop fewer dishes.
cheers,
Dave Alfano
soup-t...@earthlink.net
>Washing dishes is terrible (speaking as someone who
>has had painful cracked finger tips most winters since
>marrying and doing such wahing) but then there are
>RUBBER GLOVES. They almost totally solve the problem.
I said, NO MORE RUBBER GLOVES!!!!....or was that wire hangers!....:)
William Lester
Thomas Pardoe
technique or even a relaxation/ meditation exercise. My hands and
forearms are always relaxed and loose afterwards, and, shot, the
kitchen's clean to boot!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Thomas Pardoe
Carleton University
"And if this madness had a sound, Farrokh knew it would be the
sound of irrationally barking dogs." - John Irving, A Son of the Circus.
I've got birds outside,
On my windowsill,
Some birds won't, you know,
But some birds will
- Lyle Lovett
Jeff Vineburg
>More than once I was told "So you cannot wash dishes" when I
>telll someone I play the guitar.
>Is there any reasoning behind it, other than softening of
Yes.
Any excuse to avoid doing dishes is a good one, eh?
Andrew Potter
I have tried rubber gloves, but I miss a lot of notes when I play while
wearing them.
Iyengar Giridhar
|> Being a male, I don't take long, hot showers (I take short, warm ones;
|> I leave the L-O-N-G, blisteringly hot ones to my wife and teenage daughters),
Bruce, you should have put a smiley on, buddy.
I do pretty much all the usual chores of life without any problems. The
important thing to remember is not to play *right* after showering or
doing dishes or any traumatic (to your hands :-) activities. Wait a while.
The other funny thing is I don't *have* callouses the way I used to have when
I started playing. My skin just feels thicker on my fingertips, but I don't
have those bog ol' ugly bumps I used to get. And I can play for reasonably
long periods of time on my acoustic with 13s on them.
I vaguely remember reading that Chet Atkins and Eric Clapton both wore
gloves while showering.
Man! they're hands must be *dirty* by now! :-0
Spater..
..Giri
*I* said that, not my employer.
Iyengar Giridhar
Get the ones with the gripping, ribbed surface. Excellent tone! But get the
green ones (they're hard to find), the yellow ones don't quite get the right
tone.
Jim House
soup-t...@earthlink.net
Thomas F Brown
>David Alfano <David_...@qmgate.arc.nasa.gov> writes:
>
>>Hey, I wash dishes. Then, when I'm done, I usually play my bass. The
>>secret? Simple. Use rubber gloves. I discovered this long ago, when
>>I was fretting <tee hee> about my callouses softening. Added bonus:
>>you drop fewer dishes.
>
>I have tried rubber gloves, but I miss a lot of notes when I play while
>wearing them.
I don't like the rubber gloves. It just doesn't feel the same.
SEFSTRAT
>>secret? Simple. Use rubber gloves. I discovered this long ago, when
>>I was fretting <tee hee> about my callouses softening. Added bonus:
>>you drop fewer dishes.
>
>I have tried rubber gloves, but I miss a lot of notes when I play while
>wearing them.
I don't like the rubber gloves. It just doesn't feel the same.>>
I wear TWO pairs of rubber gloves at all times.
Then when I want to play guitar, I take off one pair, and it feels like
wearing nothing at all.
SEFS...@AOL.com