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The UK at the moment is having a heatwave with soaring temperatures and a number of people have died due to the unbearable heat. We do not usually have summers like this so we are not used to it and our houses do not have air conditioning.

This has made me very lethargic, headache, sweaty and light headed. Yesterday I went to my piano lesson and did not do very well. I have no energy to practice as its too hot and all I want to do is lay down on the bed and sleep.

How does anyone else cope with practicing piano and extreme heat. I am usually very enthusiastic.

Likewise, I posted the same thing in my old thread.... it's 36C in this office >.> just try to get as much air into the place as possible (what there is of it anyway) drink more than you feel you need and give it 30 mins I usually feel ok for about an hour before I end up finding myself exhausted again lol

At least it's enough to have a little play on the synth when I get indoors, thankfully I have a roof fan in the bedroom and with that going all the doors etc open it's not TOO bad... at least it's good enough that I can manage to play (if only messing about and not really going by learning materials) but then playing in its own right is fun :P


If all else fails, give yourself a short break... you'd be surprised just how much it can help if you have a few days without the piano and come back to it feeling fresh (this last week I was too busy to even touch mine) yet these past few days I have played far better than I have previously and played a lot more variety too.

We're going through a heat wave here, too.

1. Drink a lot of water. Dehydration causes the symptoms you describe and can lead to heat stroke or worse.
2. Get a revolving fan to keep the air moving. Filling a strong plastic bag with ice cubes and draping it around your neck will cool you down too.

Good luck.

Roasting in Canada

haha, airconditioning!! I live in the arizona desert and it hits 120F all the time which is HOT!!!

WOW, yeah haha ... is it humid? those who have been to Arizona and other such places here tried to explain to me about it apparently being a different kind of heat? (beats me I have never been anywhere!)

How anyone can endure such temperatures is beyond me =/

I'd be going even further beyond "Crazy" than I am now!


On a more serious note, just what is it like living somewhere like that where it is hot all the time? do you get used to it? do you notice it? how on earth do you stay cool?

You do get used to it. Pools are mandatory and its a "dry" heat. No humidity until monsoon season. If you are doing anything outside like games or running or anything at all, you resign to the fact that you will be sweating haha. lots of people just hide indoors for summer and once it gets 100 and lower its a lot more bearable.

I live in the Arizona desert too and it IS hot! But it is also true that the humidity IS less, and since we have months of the heat each year, we are equipped for it with A/C. Even so, sometimes I just feel hot and lethargic (maybe lazy is a better term in my case) and I think it's OK to take a little break from playing if you really don't have the enthusiasm. Better not to force it. For such times I read piano related books (right now I'm reading "Temperament" by Stuart Isacoff that I got for the Kindle), or browse YouTube for piano videos, or Google things like "acoustic vs digital" and read whatever looks interesting.

Bottom line, there are piano related things you can do to tide you over during the doldrums. And then hopefully you'll be even more enthused when you actually get back to playing.

In the meantime do what people have suggested, drink lots of water and just try to relax. It won't last forever. Good luck to all!

We often get spells that hot (95º-100º+ F) during the summer, in spite of the Pacific Northwest's fame for endlessly rainy winters. But it didn't used to be so bad, because it used to pretty much always be dry heat.

But over the past 3 years or so, it seems like our climate has shifted to make it both HOT and HUMID in the summer, which is truly nasty. Because the hot/humid combo has historically been so rare here, many houses lack air conditioning, which makes it worse.

We have an air conditioner in the living room, but none upstairs, where my DP lives (though we have lots of fans). So I generally have to wait until after it cools down in the evening before I can play piano, and that's very frustrating

adultpianist, in addition to the suggestions to drink lots of water (even if you don't feel thirsty) and to use a fan, icepacks, and/or cool facecloths to cool off, I can also add to wear light loose clothing and to move slowly.

But most importantly: if you're not used to this kind of heat, then you also may not be used to detecting the signs in yourself of incipient heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Listen to your body when it wants to lie down and nap, and let yourself rest and avoid exertion. Yes, piano playing is exertion (I notice when its hot, how piano playing makes me even hotter). Missing some practice in order to avoid heat distress is a good tradeoff, in my book.

Best wishes for weathering this heat wave in good health, and I'm sure your enthusiasm will return once the heat is gone.

Yes I notice that playing piano makes me hotter. Unfortunately when I had my piano lesson it was very hot and humid. Because the room overlooks a busy main road, we cannot have the window open because the noise of the traffic. Also the fan that the school has provided for the room is like a big air cooler and not a rotating fan and consequently, although it is good and blows out a lot of cold air, we cannot have it on because it is extremely noisy and we need silence to concentrate. I did ask why there is not a conventional fan an my teacher said that is what they gave her so she has to use it.

Roll on Autumn.

You could try the : Homer Simpson air conditioner. That's the refrigerator, with the door open. And a big sheet behind you. Works good till the refrigerator overheats and breaks.

In dry heat. You'd be surprised how just getting wet does it. Go stand in the shower. Come out to a whole different world.

Been getting into the 90's f here. I got two air conditioners. I enjoy my piano.

Oh...one thing. You might need salt. Easy way to tell. Put a little in your hand. Lick it. If it tastes good. You need it. If it doesn't taste good to you. You don't need any.

Don't really know what to tell you poor folk in England. That is unusual. England is supposed to have only one season. Cold, wet, and dreary.

You've just solved something I was wondering about. I was needing to sleep more and more. Somebody gave us a used air conditioner because they were moving and we installed it. In an hour suddenly I was hungry and felt better and then slept soundly like I was recovering from something. I thought that this must have been heat exhaustion. But I also thought, "Shouldn't we know when we're suffering from it?" You've just answered that. I knew I was sweating, knew that it was hot. I know what "feeling too cold" feels like, but didn't have anything called "feeling too hot".

adultpianist, I have read your post, here:

The UK at the moment is having a heatwave with soaring temperatures and a number of people have died due to the unbearable heat. We do not usually have summers like this so we are not used to it and our houses do not have air conditioning.

This has made me very lethargic, headache, sweaty and light headed. Yesterday I went to my piano lesson and did not do very well. I have no energy to practice as its too hot and all I want to do is lay down on the bed and sleep.

How does anyone else cope with practicing piano and extreme heat. I am usually very enthusiastic.

_______________________________________________

Reading your post, reminded me of a seminar, where the discussion was about the things that you can change and the things that you cannot change in your life or career. Everybody said and agreed that the one thing that you can't change is the weather. I raised my hand and said, well, if you don't like the weather, you can always move to somewhere where the weather is to your liking - in other word, it is a perfect world!

I read a post the other day where someone had slippery keys because of sweating in some hot place. I don't mind being dirty, but thinking that sweat was dipping onto the keys of my piano would be enough to kill me, because I love my piano and I wouldn't want anything bad or discusting to happen to the piano.


And to answer your post, specifically, last summer I played a digital on the deck with a headphone, under a mosquito net because I love playing the piano and I don't want to die of West Nile before my time. I think there are no West Nile issues so I won't use the net this year. I had a ceiling fan that I bought in the mid 1970s - probably before you were born - on a holiday in Florida for 69 dollars before ceiling fans were even popular in Canada because it doesn't get that warm here for very long. I only use in 1 or 2 weeks a year so it will last longer than a lifetime. For many years I just hung the ceiling from a very, very secure timber beam in the ceiling and plugged it into a socket and later I had it installed properly within the wall wiring. At full speed the cheap fan is awesome. I have to put clothpegs on the music, but at a low speed it is quite nice to play under. At full speed, it sounds like a 747 flying above, so you may have to play fff as opposed to ppp!

Remember, cheap digitals with weighted keys can cost about 3 to 5 hundred dollars and can be plugged in outside in the shade with earphones for those times that are not good for playing.

It is usually cool by 4:00 a.m., if you can play then.

It's been in the low 30's here for the past couple of weeks. (That's somewhere around 90ºF, for the Americans). I find it hard to practice later in the day, but the mornings are cool so I've just been getting up really early - about 6 - & getting in some practice before it gets hot. It probably helps that I'm naturally an early riser.

I was born in the 60s. Anyway I managed to do about half an hour of piano this evening when it cooled down. I usually do about an hour or hour and half, but because it had been so hot that was all I could manage. Better than nothing and I was pleased to do that.

You people in England I'm sure know. But will mention. Heat exhaustion is simply your body not being trained for heat. Your endocrine system gets confused and gives the wrong chemical reactions. The result is anything from no motivation, to getting sick, to death. I just thought I'd sum that up in one statement to help clarity.

The getting in the shower. Even though it is great in dry heat. You might also seriously consider that there in England. That cool water that is cooling your body. That will do much.

The getting up early. I like that. Change your awake time of day the best you can. People who visit Palm Springs. Many of them spend much time up at night. Sleep during the day. Palm Springs is low desert. Much of the year you can burn your hand trying to open your car door. That's also a dry heat. Not like what you have in England now. Still the changing times being up helps a lot. I love being up at night. For other reasons also. The early morning is a beautiful time of day. A couple hours before the sun comes up. You should try it.

Global Warming is a real problem. You might be experiencing heat more in the future. Might be worth getting a small window air conditioner for one room. Your commonly referred to: Two weeks of summer in England. That might be getting hotter in future summers. You may consider a portable air conditioner. That is one with a hose and setup you put in a window. Easily moved. I have one of these for my second air conditioner. Get one that has the 'problem' of water. Them doing away with the water separation simply makes the air conditioner less efficient. Mine is also a dehumidifier if I want to use it that way. I put mine in a small plastic cement mixing tray. I leave the water drain open. When the water builds up a little in the tray. I pour it out in the bathtub.

EDIT: Thought I'd also mention. Right now it's 2am. Our temps are down to 73f. I won't turn off the air conditioners. The reason being I can play my piano without the sound going outside. Won't bother everyone sleeping with their windows open. I prefer playing without the headphones. Otherwise it's supposed to get hot tomorrow. Leave the AC on so it won't have to cool the place down after I get home from work. If it weren't going to get hot tomorrow. I'd use the headphones. Open the windows. Save on electric bill.

Another point for keeping indoors cool(er) - be sure to CLOSE and cover any windows, doors, etc while the sun is on that side. It's not cooler to have a window open if the air coming in is hotter than what's already there. I learned this when I lived in a town with climate similar to Palm Desert, Calif. (Yes, there IS a desert in Canada! <http://www.sunnyosoyoos.com/about.htm>) Many of my neighbours pre-dated air conditioning & had never felt the need for it. Once things start to cool off, open up & stick fans where they'll pick up cool air & 'encourage' it into your dwelling. I currently live in Vancouver, but on a top floor corner unit with windows & south & west side. It can get hot in here in March if I don't pay attention!

A nurse once told me that putting ice or ice packs on your wrists helps cool you down quite a bit.
I would also recommend a nice cold shower. as others have suggested keep the windows covered and also keep as many heat producing appliances and lights off as you can.

BUT! it is very important that if you are feeling lethargic etc then please do not push yourself. If they are predicting there as they are here (America) that this will be over by Sunday then you are better off resting and taking care of yourself. Keep some nice ice cold drinks in the fridge and freezer and keep yourself cool. Here we have a store called CVS probably similar to Boots there. They always have the AC cranked. So, I will go there or to the supermarket and do some shopping...very slowly to get a nice and cool. The piano will be there waiting for you on Sunday .

The problem is that people who are not used this type of heat can get very sick because they don't realize they have pushed themselves too far until it's to late. Kinda of the same in the winter when people try to shovel too much heavy snow. Here in new england we are used to the extremes.

Please take care.

Yes, I saw something similar on the news the other night. People who work in hot jobs & must keep working through the heat immerse their forearms in ice water during breaks. Apparently it's the best way to cool down because blood vessels are closest to the surface there.

My enthusiasm is sometimes sustained by practicing without a shirt in certain temperature range.