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RE: Nails. What to do with them and how? (in reply to longboy)
If you are a beginner, I would focus on playing and less on nails. I know for me (beginner-intermediate level player) nail shape hardly has any impact on my playing. And while I am certainly not an expert player, I manage to play a lot of the techniques people have difficulty with at a relatively high level (picado, tremolo etc.) without worrying about my nails (i.e. cutting them with clippers to random lengths and sometimes completely off (for sport reasons).) It might also be a reason it is 'neglected' e.g. for most people it simply doesn't matter that much.
With that said, the pictures here are probably the best advice.
RE: Nails. What to do with them and how? (in reply to Paul Magnussen)
quote:
ORIGINAL: Paul Magnussen
... the usual way to hold the file is vertically. But instead, hold the file horizontally too, so that it's parallel to your hand. The basic idea is to file your nails this way, from underneath; then the resulting cross-section must be flat, because the nail-file is flat.
Hello Paul,
I was once told by a beautician that nails would tend to grow into the direction of the filed surface. That was decades ago though, and the info might be outdated by now.*
If it was of sense however, then the method you advice should result into further crooking of the nail over time. In that sense, on the contrary abrasion through rasgueados should actually contribute to the nails straightening. ( <- Looks as if it could at least be enhancing diameter, looking at my current nail status after a while of encreased rasgueado use. [ They appear a bit thicker now.])
Dunno ... I´ve been trying to observe whether there could be something to it or not, without definite findings. ( Because of finding myself reluctant to keep filing in the opposite angle of the way you advice over an extended period of time. = More than just keeping the file vertical, but even tilting it over a bit. )
Only "definite" thing me thinks to observe on nail growth is that my left hands nails, apparently due to being kept short are growing much more straight than those of the RH; - which I suppose most crookies to experience likewise.
Ruphus
PS: * Analogically, there was that old believe that hair would be getting better if cut short. I think this old sageness to have been quashed meanwhile.
Posts: 1812
Joined: Nov. 8 2010
From: London (living in the Bay Area)
RE: Nails. What to do with them and how? (in reply to Paul Magnussen)
quote:
Does anyone have a solution to nails that curve downward? If my nails grow to where you can just see the nail from palms up, they curve down and no amount of filing seems to avoid hooking. This has been a major problem for many years and any help would be greatly appreciated.
The solution to this is easy, but almost nobody seems to know it. I owe my knowledge to an article by the late Peter Sensier, in the old BMG magazine.
My mistake: the article was by James O’Brien, in the July 1966 issue (p. 312); and those interested can find it here (along with PDFs of all the other BMGs back to 1903!
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