Do you remember when you first picked up a cello, violin, or viola? Remember how sore your fingers felt after your first practice sessions?
Musicians, particularly those who play stringed instruments, tend to develop calluses on their fingers. In the same way that ballerinas and runners grow calluses on their feet, the persistent pressure and friction of your hands on the strings causes keratinization of the skin. When your amazingly adaptable body senses the pain-causing friction and pressure in a specific area of skin, the skin cells begin constructing tough fibrous proteins, known as keratin, at the friction point.
Keratin is the main structural component of nails, hair, beaks, horns, feathers, and hooves. Once formed, the toughened skin feels little to no pain when engaging in the familiar pressure-applying activity.
What if you’re going on a backpacking trip and have to be away from your instrument for an extended period of time? If you are a musician who relies on calluses to perform tricky pizzicato pieces, don’t worry. There are several ways to maintain that necessary hardness in your fingers.
You can purchase callus builders from a musical equipment supplier (they have rows of ridges that imitate the feel of strings). You can also carry a cheese cutter, the kind with a wire, to press your fingers on repeatedly (though this may admittedly look a bit eccentric if done in public). Basically, pressing down on ridged, but not sharp, surfaces will help maintain your calluses – try the rolled edge around the top of a sealed aluminum can. One guitarist carries an outdated credit card around so he can press his fingers on the edge of it.
It is true that not all handlers of stringed instruments develop callused fingers to the same degree; some people have more reactive skin than others. There are a number of talented and dedicated violinists whose “calluses” manifest only as leathery skin beneath the surface. Other people have experienced calluses that developed to the point of obstructing the execution of complex techniques. If your calluses encumber your ability to feel the strings properly, you can file them down, cut them off, or apply generous amounts of moisturizer to your skin to make it easier to remove with a pumice stone.