What I did on my Christmas vacation...

OldePhart

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So, this year we decided to spend Christmas week at my mother-in-law's out of state so my sister-in-law could take a break and get away (my mother-in-law is almost blind and has alzheimers so my wife's sister cares for her).

Anyway...I wasn't exactly looking forward to the week (not because of mom-in-law, just don't like the house/town/state/drive) but figured at least I'd get lots of time to play ukulele, maybe even learn something! I took two ukes along, my new Pono bari and my favorite soprano, looking forward to some serious woodshedding.

So, what's the first thing I did at mom-in-law's house? Burnt the fool out of my index and second fingers the first morning - it was half-dark in the kitchen and I didn't notice that the cup I'd used to heat some water in the microwave had gold (i.e. metallic) glaze on the handle. Easily the worst burn I've ever had, though not bad enough to require a visit to the Dr. or anything. Just bad enough to seriously restrict my uke playing. :(

On the silver-lining side, I did discover that if you use the fabric band-aids on your index and second fingers while picking a thumb and two-finger pattern the bandaids rub together and make a neat shaker sound... LOL

Still have a week of vacation left and my fingers are still too messed up to allow much beyond basic strumming. Oh well, at least I'm back home in my own bed and can actually get some sleep at night.

John
 
Aww, that sucks. I burned my left thumb and index finger several months ago and it was a very dull few weeks while it healed! I used the time to work on right hands stuff a bit. Can you work on left hand stuff? Do some spider exercises?
 
Aww, that sucks. I burned my left thumb and index finger several months ago and it was a very dull few weeks while it healed! I used the time to work on right hands stuff a bit. Can you work on left hand stuff? Do some spider exercises?

Yeah...I can still play basic stuff - unfortunately my left hand is decent - it's the right that I was really hoping to concentrate on. Oh well...a bad day at home with a uke is still better than a good day at work! :)

John
 
Ouch! Sorry to hear about your injury. I broke the tip of the second finger on my right hand in August 2011, two weeks before the Wind Country Ukulele festival, for which I had registered for a bunch of fingerpicking workshops. The break effectively put my index finger out of commission, because I couldn't get my second finger, which was in a splint for six weeks, out of the way. Two interesting things happened. first, I began strumming with my thumb and actually got really proficient at it, developing all sorts of subtle strum techniques. Secondly, I found that when I was in the fingerpicking workshops at the ukulele festival (I thought I could at least watch and take notes) my ring finger sort of automatically assumed the tasks that would otherwise have been performed by my broken second finger. It all made me realize that the brain is a marvelous thing. It took a long time for my broken finger to retake its rightful place (the metacarpal healed at a slight angle, which took some getting used to), but for me, the silver lining is that I now have all sorts techniques I would not have otherwise had, primarily using my thumb to strum. If I had it to do over again, I still would have preferred not to break my finger at all (for one thing, the bicycle accident in which I broke my finger apparently caused other injuries that took a while to become symptomatic), but the loss of use of my finger for a little while broadened my right-hand skills in ways I might not have otherwise explored.

I hope your fingers heal quickly, but while they're healing, you might want to take a shot at strumming with your right thumb and picking with your uninjured fingers. One never knows.
 
Ouch! Sorry to hear about your injury. I broke the tip of the second finger on my right hand in August 2011, two weeks before the Wind Country Ukulele festival, for which I had registered for a bunch of fingerpicking workshops. The break effectively put my index finger out of commission, because I couldn't get my second finger, which was in a splint for six weeks, out of the way. Two interesting things happened. first, I began strumming with my thumb and actually got really proficient at it, developing all sorts of subtle strum techniques. Secondly, I found that when I was in the fingerpicking workshops at the ukulele festival (I thought I could at least watch and take notes) my ring finger sort of automatically assumed the tasks that would otherwise have been performed by my broken second finger. It all made me realize that the brain is a marvelous thing. It took a long time for my broken finger to retake its rightful place (the metacarpal healed at a slight angle, which took some getting used to), but for me, the silver lining is that I now have all sorts techniques I would not have otherwise had, primarily using my thumb to strum. If I had it to do over again, I still would have preferred not to break my finger at all (for one thing, the bicycle accident in which I broke my finger apparently caused other injuries that took a while to become symptomatic), but the loss of use of my finger for a little while broadened my right-hand skills in ways I might not have otherwise explored.

I hope your fingers heal quickly, but while they're healing, you might want to take a shot at strumming with your right thumb and picking with your uninjured fingers. One never knows.

Sorry to hear about the bike accident, and the complications. Makes me feel like I'm complaining about having no shoes in front of the man with no feet! :)

You have a good point, though. I've already figured out that I can do a thumb-and-one-finger roll that I usually do with my thumb and index using my thumb and second finger while holding my index finger up out of the way. Neither of my burns is where the fingers normally contact the strings, but they are where the fingers normally strike each other when doing rolls and such. I guess maybe I can learn some "alternate" right hand techniques...

John
 
Sorry to hear about the bike accident, and the complications. Makes me feel like I'm complaining about having no shoes in front of the man with no feet! :)

Please don't think that! Each person's challenges are his or her own. At the Maui Ukulele Festival this past October, I saw a kid play who had a congenital birth complication that resulted in a right arm that ends at the elbow, which has a few finger-like things on it that he uses to strum. He plays amazingly, and, yeah, as I watched him I felt stupid about having been frustrated by my broken finger. I just try to remember to be grateful for all that I have and to appreciate the way others approach their own challenges.
 
Sorry to hear about your injury. Next time you burn yourself (always when, not if, right?), try pouring soy sauce on the burn. Takes down the pain and helps with healing. It's worked for me. Vinegar might help too, it helps with sunburn. Might smell like a salad but what's worse?
 
Please don't think that! Each person's challenges are his or her own. At the Maui Ukulele Festival this past October, I saw a kid play who had a congenital birth complication that resulted in a right arm that ends at the elbow, which has a few finger-like things on it that he uses to strum. He plays amazingly, and, yeah, as I watched him I felt stupid about having been frustrated by my broken finger. I just try to remember to be grateful for all that I have and to appreciate the way others approach their own challenges.

Kinda reminds me when I complained to my piano accompanist at uni how I could never play because of my pathetic hand span. She showed me her hands, like a 4 year old's on the body of an adult. Piano was her major, and she was going places. I was like... Ok I shut up now. :D

Someone wants to play something, they'll find a way.

John that really sucks about the horrible timing with that burn. You need to time your injuries better! :)
 
((((John)))) Well wishes for a quick recovery. Burns are the worst. I think I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, but not when it comes to burns. I am a big whiner when it comes to them.
 
Sorry to hear that you didn't have a good time. I was really hoping to find some amazing (crazy) thing that you did to another uke! :) Hope that you are feeling better and back to your regular strumming self soon!
 
Hey, Goldfinger-ahem, John- take a felt pick and rock that new baritone!
 
Sorry to hear about your injury. Next time you burn yourself (always when, not if, right?), try pouring soy sauce on the burn. Takes down the pain and helps with healing. It's worked for me. Vinegar might help too, it helps with sunburn. Might smell like a salad but what's worse?
Hmmm, I'd heard of the vinegar thing - never heard of the soy sauce, though. I've smelled like worse things than a salad...

You need to time your injuries better! :)
Yeah...would much rather have not been able to type when I get back to work or something like that. I'm the guy that always gets sick on the weekends, never during the week... :(

((((John)))) Well wishes for a quick recovery. Burns are the worst. I think I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, but not when it comes to burns. I am a big whiner when it comes to them.
I've got a pretty high pain tolerance, too - that's not always a good thing as my beat-up body can testify. Honestly I would barely notice these burns except they are in exactly the wrong place for doing anything fancy. They're starting to heal up decently now, though. I might get in a couple of days of serious woodshedding before I have to go back to work.

I was really hoping to find some amazing (crazy) thing that you did to another uke!
Uh-oh, I'm getting a reputation! :) That does remind me that I need to order a couple of pickups, though...

chrimess said:
Hey, Goldfinger-ahem, John- take a felt pick and rock that new baritone!
Actually, I prefer the Dunlop .38mm white nylon picks on the rare occasion when I use one on a uke. In this case though using a pick would be worse then just using my thumb because gripping the pick is one of the things that makes my burns rub together.

I'm really doing okay - I just have to remember to keep it simple and not doing anything that lets my index and second finger rub together - maybe I should learn to play by ear... :)
 
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