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I already play steel string fingerstyle. Assuming I do not want to grow my right hand nails or use glue-on nails(due to my job and other sports i do), is there a technique change you do while playing to attempt to get the most sound from the fingers?
Long fingernails have always aggravated me and i have, since childhood, kept them very short, I just don't think I could be comfortable having them.
I realize nails give you a much sharper/louder tone and I suppose more speed.
RE: If I do not want to have long Rt... (in reply to darylcrisp)
Aaron Shearer does not recommend long fingernails for people who are just starting out on classical guitar. I read another book that suggests not growing your fingernails until after you have developed some technique. The nails can actually get in the way until after a person has developed some finger strength.
This is my opinion. I hope others with more experience offer their opinions, too. Nails don't seem to be critical for rasgeaudo and other strumming techniques. They add to you tone and volume in picado--a coating of superglue seems to add to this effect as well. To play tremolo nails are critical--without I can't make the technique work. Your nails might not have to be very long, but the shorter they are the more accurate you have to be--and developing accuracy can take a long, long time.
At this stage I think you can put off growing and maintaining "long" nails for a year or two depending on your technical emphasis. You could take this time to experiment. Also, you might find that your nails break easily and are usually short because of this or that they do not have to be noticeably longer than you've kept them in the past. Finally, the freakishly long nails you might see in videos of famous, professional players seem to me to be a failsafe option for live performances.
RE: If I do not want to have long Rt... (in reply to darylcrisp)
If you can just live with the nail being even with the fingertip, you're fine. That's not long at all. Since they dont stick out past the tip, you dont really need to worry about them that much. And even if one snaps, it only takes a week or so to grow them back even with the fingertip.
I used to use longer nails, until Ricardo lent me Pumping Nylon, and i heard Scott Tenant say, "if they're past the fingertip, they're too long"
At first i thought "NO WAY" that can not be right!!!!
Ive come to realize, he's so right.
Took me a long time to adjust, but shorter is better as far as im concerned. Better tone, better control.
Posts: 4530
Joined: Aug. 9 2006
From: Iran (living in Germany)
RE: If I do not want to have long Rt... (in reply to darylcrisp)
I agree with Todd
But .....i have problems with short thumb nail. If it is too short (like my other fingers / even with the fingertip), then i have 2 problems: 1) i can not get the sound i want and expect when playing Pulgar 2) sometimes i miss the string or hit it only with the flesh and the sound is terrible (too classic)
Maybe (i am pretty sure) it is just a matter of practicing as i can see that it works for Ricardo (He has a short thumb nail) and some other guitarists.
No problem with the rest of my fingers. With short nails you can play faster (specially picados) and you get a better sound (The good Flesh & Nail Sound)
But i feel very comfortable with my "little bit longer thumb nail + short i,m,a,e nails)
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