Broken thumbnail...

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Broken thumbnail...

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MarcChrys

Posts: 121
Joined: Jan. 11 2009
From: England (West Yorkshire/Lancashire)

Broken thumbnail...

Guess this is a classic flamenco guitarist's dilemma

Torn thumbnail....car door handle, grrrr! :(

Do I

a) wait for it to re-grow and work on my picado?
b) glue artificial nail on?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 28 2009 13:23:07

omega0684

Posts: 41
Joined: Nov. 5 2008

RE: Broken thumbnail... (in reply to MarcChrys)

Heads or Tails?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 28 2009 13:35:38

val

Posts: 800
Joined: Apr. 4 2007
From: London

RE: Broken thumbnail... (in reply to omega0684)

I'd say don't prat around gluing on false bits and pieces. Play off your finger tips. You'll get used to it. I started that way and continued for years (classical). I did have a fine set of nails until a week ago, digging up clay and making a concrete base for my NEW SHED. I now have no nails at all and am about to embark on he beginners challenge. It's fingertips all the way. No prizes for me then!

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 28 2009 15:07:28

at_leo_87

Posts: 3055
Joined: Aug. 30 2008
From: Boston, MA, U.S.A

RE: Broken thumbnail... (in reply to MarcChrys)

here's what i do
a) cut it and wait for it to grow back. continue playing and just try to adapt.
b) put some super glue on the tear and then place a piece of tissue on. repeat and build up to two or three layers.
c) LAST RESORT. cut off thumb nail and some toe nails. attach toe nails using method from option b. don't tell ANYONE you did this. they won't understand... they just won't

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 28 2009 15:29:24

val

Posts: 800
Joined: Apr. 4 2007
From: London

RE: Broken thumbnail... (in reply to at_leo_87)

quote:

cut off thumb nail and some toe nails.

Wonderful. Anyone walking past my room would think I was mad. I've been sitting here laughing uncontrollably at the images this has conjured

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 28 2009 15:36:30

MarcChrys

Posts: 121
Joined: Jan. 11 2009
From: England (West Yorkshire/Lancashire)

RE: Broken thumbnail... (in reply to at_leo_87)

Ha ha! Thanks for that - unfortunately I trimmed my toenails for the first time in months a couple of days ago :) I HAVE done the superglue/tissue paper trick and it worked prettyw ell, though I think I over-did the layers and ended up with a nail that looked like it belonged to Nosferatu!

To maker matters worse, my index nail has gone now :( Think it's my superego's way of telling me I need to stop strumming away on the guitar and get on with marking (I'm a teacher) a mountain of students' assignments that I've been putting off...

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 29 2009 1:06:09

Exitao

Posts: 907
Joined: Mar. 13 2006
From: Vancouver, Canada

RE: Broken thumbnail... (in reply to MarcChrys)

There's a product call "guitar player's nails" and Savarez has a nail making and repair kit.

The first one uses a material like artificial nails, and the second uses self-adhesive silk and what I assume is an acrylic fluid resin (you could go to a manicurist and ask about silk nails).

http://www.stringsbymail.com/acsub.asp?tSer=87&dSub=Nail+Care

Personally, I generally can't keep nails because of work. I always kept my nails just long enough for the tips to clip the string (no nails at has poor sustain), they're pretty much even with my fingertips. For rasgeo, it's fine 'cos no flesh touches the string.

Recently I've been able to grow nails, and I'm not sure what the hell I'm supposed to do with them. They get in the way, more than not.

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Callidus et iracundus.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 29 2009 2:18:56

MarcChrys

Posts: 121
Joined: Jan. 11 2009
From: England (West Yorkshire/Lancashire)

RE: Broken thumbnail... (in reply to Exitao)

Thanks for the link. It's interesting how conventional wisdom changes - when I first started playing flamenco-style I saw people like Juan MArtin with nails like something out of Edward Scissorhands and thought I had to have mine like that (quite a dilemma if, like me, you go rock climbing). Now, like you, I've discovered that I really don't need much of a nail length on my right hand fingernails (according to Grisha, no less, picados are easier with hardly any nail) - it's a 'reasonably' long thumb nail that seems to be vital (makes alzapua and p-m-p and p-m-i triplets easier and nicer-sounding).

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 29 2009 12:35:57

Black Sheep

Posts: 9
Joined: Jan. 26 2009

RE: Broken thumbnail... (in reply to MarcChrys)

This is a funny story I heard. A player damaged a nail before an important performance. Not knowing how to get around it he consulted the web where he read that cutting up ping-pong balls and gluing them under the nail for strength. He did it and it worked very well ... except that the stage was lit with UV light ... and that makes the ping pong balls glow in the dark ... so all anyone saw was flashing white finger nails flicking about in the dark .... he was very embarrassed until someone complimented him on the great 'special effect'...

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Visit web.mac.com/andrewmi for my Journey to Duende blog

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 29 2009 15:09:38

at_leo_87

Posts: 3055
Joined: Aug. 30 2008
From: Boston, MA, U.S.A

RE: Broken thumbnail... (in reply to MarcChrys)

quote:

it's a 'reasonably' long thumb nail that seems to be vital (makes alzapua and p-m-p and p-m-i triplets easier and nicer-sounding).

i can't have my thumb nail too long. if it's too long, it snags often.

real frustrating. it eventually rips at the tip too. maybe i'm shaping it wrong?

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 29 2009 17:07:46

MarcChrys

Posts: 121
Joined: Jan. 11 2009
From: England (West Yorkshire/Lancashire)

RE: Broken thumbnail... (in reply to at_leo_87)

By 'reasonably' long I don't mean 'very' long (like many flamenco players seem to cultivate), just 1/5 inch protruding (fifth, NOT 15 inches!) does the trick for me, and generally doesn't need any specialist shaping.
Maybe foroflamenco should have a thread 'HOW LONG ARE YOUR NAILS?' :)

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 30 2009 8:07:10

Exitao

Posts: 907
Joined: Mar. 13 2006
From: Vancouver, Canada

RE: Broken thumbnail... (in reply to MarcChrys)

Would anyone mind, terribly, explaining exactly how you use your thumbnails?

While I've still got a week or two left to keep mine long, I'd like to give it a try, just so I understand. But for the life of me, I can't figure out what to do with it.

At the moment, I've resorted using the side of my thumb so the nail doesn't touch (which causes me some buzz).

So...

How do you use your thumbnail?

How have you shaped your thumbnail?

If you lost your thumbnail, how would you generally adapt your technique?

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Callidus et iracundus.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 30 2009 9:50:21

at_leo_87

Posts: 3055
Joined: Aug. 30 2008
From: Boston, MA, U.S.A

RE: Broken thumbnail... (in reply to MarcChrys)

for the most part, i always push "down" towards the soundboard and play perpendicular to the strings. just from playing like that, the left side (looking at it palms faced away) naturally erodes away and creates a ramp from left to right.

if i lose my thumb nail, i just play more aggressive. thumb nail is great! cherish it while you can!

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 30 2009 10:04:53

at_leo_87

Posts: 3055
Joined: Aug. 30 2008
From: Boston, MA, U.S.A

RE: Broken thumbnail... (in reply to MarcChrys)

quote:

Maybe foroflamenco should have a thread 'HOW LONG ARE YOUR NAILS?' :)

i found this one

http://www.foroflamenco.com/tm.asp?m=96571&appid=&p=&mpage=1&key=&tmode=&smode=&s=#96571

i'll post pictures there soon.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 30 2009 10:10:34

Stu

Posts: 2552
Joined: Jan. 30 2007
From: London (the South of it), England

RE: Broken thumbnail... (in reply to at_leo_87)

quote:

except that the stage was lit with UV light ... and that makes the ping pong balls glow in the dark ... so all anyone saw was flashing white finger nails flicking about in the dark .... he was very embarrassed until someone complimented him on the great 'special effect'...

sounds quite cool.... especially if he was pulling off some really fast alzapua!!

quote:

So...

How do you use your thumbnail?

How have you shaped your thumbnail?

If you lost your thumbnail, how would you generally adapt your technique?

the nail of my thumb only seems to get used during alzapua and triplet rasgueados.or other upstrokes.

It slopes up from left to right so when I'm playing thumb passages the nail doesn't really touch the strings it just kinda supports/reinforces the flesh

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 30 2009 13:20:38

Exitao

Posts: 907
Joined: Mar. 13 2006
From: Vancouver, Canada

RE: Broken thumbnail... (in reply to Stu)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Stu

quote:

So...

How do you use your thumbnail?

How have you shaped your thumbnail?

If you lost your thumbnail, how would you generally adapt your technique?

the nail of my thumb only seems to get used during alzapua and triplet rasgueados.

It slopes up from left to right so when I'm playing thumb passages the nail doesn't really touch the strings it just kinda supports/reinforces the flesh

I see, so as long as the nail extends to the fleshy tip of the thumb, it doesn't actually need to be longer?

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Callidus et iracundus.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 30 2009 14:28:58

Stu

Posts: 2552
Joined: Jan. 30 2007
From: London (the South of it), England

RE: Broken thumbnail... (in reply to Exitao)

Well mine does actually pass the tip of the thumb..but only on the right side. (I actually just filed it.... maybe a little too much on the left.)

check it

this is by no means gospel and I'm likely to adapt it as I progress as I have done with all my nails.