V.com weekend vote: What do you do with your wedding ring, while you play the violin?

April 30, 2011 at 6:17 PM

The Royal nuptials, as well as this V.com discussion thread, have me thinking about the topic of wedding rings, jewelry, and playing the fiddle.

What does one do with a wedding ring, or in my case, a wedding and engagement ring, while playing the fiddle? A number of people say it does not get in their way, but it certainly does get in my way, especially when the stone starts working its way around, until it's pointing inward. So I simply take it off my left hand and wear it on my right, when I play.

Playing with just the band on the left hand, this does not seem to pose quite the same discomfort. I would be concerned with losing the ring if I took it off and put it somewhere.

Also, as I understand it, in many countries the ring is actually worn on the right hand anyway. This seems like it would pose less of a problem, but some might disagree.

And of course, this does not have to be a wedding ring to cause problems. A pinkie ring, any kind of ring, can be a nuisance. (Any jewelry for that matter…the rattling necklace!)

So what do you do with your ring, if you have one? And please share your thoughts below.

From Karen Allendoerfer
Posted on April 30, 2011 at 6:40 PM

I've become a little superstitious, because I've had bad luck when I've taken my wedding band off. I only have a simple wedding band, nothing with a stone, no engagement ring. So at this point I wear it on my left hand and I never take it off. It's actually kind of difficult to get off at this point--I've been married and wearing this ring for almost 14 years--and it feels weirder to have it off than on. It doesn't bother me when I'm playing.

From Gene Wie
Posted on April 30, 2011 at 8:50 PM

My wife got me a lovely ring...and wear it on my right hand.

It doesn't work on my left hand at all, with all the stones, I'd just grind up the neck of my violin and viola!

From John Cadd
Posted on April 30, 2011 at 11:03 PM

I just swopped my wedding ring over to the right hand and it feels much too tight there . The left hand finger has a distinct groove that allows movement. It feels good not having the ring on it though. Now I`m struggling to get the thing off my right hand.

From Francesca Rizzardi
Posted on May 1, 2011 at 6:37 AM

Related question: what do people do about earrings? I don't wear them while playing because I'm afraid they may scratch my violin, but I can forsee a day when I might want to dress up a bit more while playing the violin.

I also wear just a plain band and feel it would be superstitious to take it off--fortunately it's not an issue.

From John Cadd
Posted on May 1, 2011 at 10:05 AM

Are your ear rings dangly or short? Sports routine is to stick a lump of tape over the jewellry. How about necklaces crossing the busy collarbone area.?That must be painful . Does this survey cover anyone who`s divorced?

From William Gibson III
Posted on May 1, 2011 at 12:45 PM

I was always doing manual labor so never wear it due to safety ... then after getting the divorce papers I took up the violin/fiddle to try to give me something else to think about ...After 3 years of lessons and trying I am good enough player to be paid .....paid to stop that is .... Timing is my biggest issue at this point intonation could use a bit of work to ..Still in to it and trying to get better some day I will be fair to good ...

Bill G.

From Karen Allendoerfer
Posted on May 1, 2011 at 12:55 PM

Fran, I sometimes find myself wearing big dangly earrings to orchestra rehearsal and then I take the left one off and hang it from the pocket of my music folder. If I remember, I'll wear just little studs on rehearsal days. Sometimes I'll find a stray earring on the floor in the room where I practice because I took it out to practice and forgot to pick it up afterwards.

From Ophelia Larson
Posted on May 1, 2011 at 2:10 PM

When I started playing again, I moved my wedding ring - a band w/ a stone - to my right hand. And my husband, also moved his ring to his right hand - "so we could match" as he says. But here in the US we get questions ALL the time about why we wear the rings on the right hand! I get asked if I am Greek (which is not far off, I am from the Mediterranean) or if my husband is Norwegian - actually correct since my husband's family is originally from Norway. We've also been asked if it symbolizes our support of gay marriage. I had no idea moving our rings would be so interesting to others.

From Trevor Jennings
Posted on May 1, 2011 at 5:31 PM

My wedding ring is big and belonged to my grandfather. Not long after our wedding I found it was causing problems when playing the cello and classical guitar (so imagine wearing it when playing the violin in later years!). It doesn't fit comfortably on my right hand, so I just don't wear it. My wife understands.

There was no problem when I used to wear my wrist watch on the left (that's standard for most people) – until the clasp wrecked the winding on my cello Aing when scampering up into a high position. Since then I've always worn on my right wrist.

If you are engaged in manual work or using machinery it is a very good idea not to wear finger rings. Fingers have been de-gloved or even torn off when a ring has got caught up in machinery. Don't wear anything metal on your hand or fingers when working with electricity, even if it's only to look inside a computer case. A car battery can short against a finger ring and the current released is capable of melting a gold ring.

From John Cadd
Posted on May 2, 2011 at 11:16 AM

Just to emphasise the dangers of car batteries.If you put a 1/2 inch thick steel bar across the terminals it will become red hot in a few seconds. If you are holding it you may break the high jump record.

From Francesca Rizzardi
Posted on May 2, 2011 at 9:07 PM

Karen, your description of hanging your earring on your music folder reminded me that my daughter has a rubber rat (full size) with lots of earrings dangling from it! But that's a good idea.

From John Cadd
Posted on May 3, 2011 at 9:36 AM

Just a note about being married and music. There was a documentary about a quartet group playing guitars etc . They drifted away from playing together as married life gradually took over (like a tsunami). Years later they had all divorced and wished they had kept on playing. It doesn`t go away you see.

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V.com weekend vote: What do you do with your wedding ring, while you play the violin?

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