Anybody fingerpick with no nails?

[Michael Martin]

Thanks to all who helped with slippy picks. Brings to mind another question, this time about fingerstyle technique--am I an oddball, since I cut my right-hand nails as short as possible, and finger-pick with only the "skin"? (I play righty)

 

Of course this skin-picking imparts a softer, more muted tone than with nails or picks. But it's the way I learned, so it's what I've always done. When greater volume is important, I amplify.

 

I keep one of my ten nails longish--the thumbnail of my left hand, so I can pick up thin things like pieces of paper, coins, or those slippery guitar picks that I'm always dropping on the floor. And that thumbnail, even though it's seldom used, often breaks or gets ragged. This makes me think that if I grew out my right-hand nails so as to finger-pick with them, they would constantly be breaking and that this would totally screw up my guitar playing. That would be a problem, since I can't live without playing guitar.

 

Tell me about your fingers...?

[DonK]

I keep my left hand nails very short, because I hate having my nails bump up against the strings on my fretting hand - I find they tend to glance off the strings.

 

I keep my right hand nails pretty short, but not quites as much as on the left. I leave just a little bit exposed, and when I fingerpick I use mostly the flesh of my fingers but will vary my attack to include the nail when I want a brighter sound, or when I'm using them to play lead without a pick.

[kwakatak]

 

Originally posted by DonK I keep my left hand nails very short, because I hate having my nails bump up against the strings on my fretting hand - I find they tend to glance off the strings. I keep my right hand nails pretty short, but not quites as much as on the left. I leave just a little bit exposed, and when I fingerpick I use mostly the flesh of my fingers but will vary my attach to include the nail when I want a brighter sound, or when I'm using them to play lead without a pick.

 

 

+1

 

That's pretty much how Laurence Juber and Tommy Emmanuel do it as well.

 

I clip my left hand really short so that I don't snag them on the strings while fretting. The right hand I keep short but not as much as the left hand. When picking, I try to use the flesh just under the overhang of the fingernail.

[knockwood]

I'm a fingertip flesh-only kind of guy. I just cannot get comfortable with picks, although sometimes I like the tonal impact. From time to time I'll experiment with growing out the nails on my picking hand a little, but the way it feels (even when I'm not playing guitar) drives me nuts so that never sticks.

[catdaddy]

I keep fingernails on both hands as short as possible. Normally I use flesh only when finger picking and love the fact that I can really dig into the string with bare fingers (and thumb). Seems to give me a lot more control than with picks. Rarely I'll use plastic fingerpicks if I need more volume (just don't like sound I get with metal ones) but for the music I play I like the sound of flesh on string and the greater range of expression that it affords. Having said all that I have heard many a guitar player use finger picks to great effect. I just can't seem to achieve that effect with them myself.

[bigby]

I've always kept my nails trimmed way down on both hands. A couple of times I grew out my picking nails, but after a few odd looks at work and the trouble with keeping them clean/filed and such, I just cut them off. But then again, only maybe 10% of the stuff I do is in fingerstyle; if it was much more I'd probably be more willing to put up with the social stares.

[Hudman]

I keep the nails cut short on both hands. The only time I use my finger nails on my pick hand is when I use the back of my fingers (nail side) for strumming while finger picking.

 

Long nails bug me.

[Queequeg]

I used to wear the nails on my rt hand pretty long, but not any more. I do the same as DonK. there's just enough nail to grab a string without getting hung up on them. plus they don't break as easily when you keep them a bit shorter. I like the left hand nails as short as possible.

[min7b5]

I did my first CD, and most of date before and after, with flesh only. Then I started using Alaskas for my second CD. Since then I go back and forth quite a bit. I play better with flesh only for sure, and home alone I like the tone better. But for playing out it's nice to have the volume of nails...

[Dave W.]

 

Originally posted by min7b5 I did my first CD, and most of date before and after, with flesh only. Then I started using Alaskas for my second CD. Since then I go back and forth quite a bit. I play better with flesh only for sure, and home alone I like the tone better. But for playing out it's nice to have the volume of nails...

 

 

I have tried the Alaskas as I have a hard time keeping my nails long enough to do any real good. The Alaskas seem to need almost as much nail just to keep them on.

Metal picks slide sideways a bit on the strings and have a zipper like sound (which I hate) and plastic finger picks feel like surf boards. I am getting the hang of a thumb pick after working on it for a long time.

[Sweb]

 

Originally posted by Queequeg I used to wear the nails on my rt hand pretty long, but not any more. I do the same as DonK. there's just enough nail to grab a string without getting hung up on them. plus they don't break as easily when you keep them a bit shorter. I like the left hand nails as short as possible.

 

 

+1. Longer is okay for classical guitar but I have learned that with steel strings you don't need much. Sort of like a cat's claws - it's all in the attack/technique.

 

Keep it up - it pays off.

[DonK]

It seems most of us use a relatively similar approach: either both hands really short, or left hand really short and right hand still pretty short.

 

That strikes me as being in pretty stark contrast with a lot of the players I read about in AG magazine. It seems a lot of them are really picky about growing their left hand nails long, to the point of using silk wraps or having acrylic nails professionally applied at a salon. I always thought it would feel kind of weird heading to a nail salon once a week and asking for acrylic nails on one hand only, not to mention how strange they'd look at the office!

[min7b5]

 

Originally posted by Dave W. I have tried the Alaskas as I have a hard time keeping my nails long enough to do any real good. The Alaskas seem to need almost as much nail just to keep them on.....

 

 

I haven

[Ole Man Blues]

I keep my picking hand nails short but not down to the meat.

 

My fingering hand about the same. If I cut them too short they tend to dry out of become sore and sensitive. Then I can't play for a few days....

 

OMB

[scoutll]

I have always bitten my nails pretty badly so picking without nails comes naturally for me.

[suprswd]

i dont have nails on either hand, i try to keep them really short with no white on the tips.

 

EXCEPT i leave my middle fingernail fairly long on my right hand to strum with my thumb/middle finger.

 

its weird, i know...but it work really good.

[SusanV]

Left hand very short.

Right fingerpicking hand short, but with enough there to use when I want to, to change the sound/attack. Otherwise i use the flesh.

 

edit: When I was gigging several night a week ( haven't been doing that for a while now), I would coat my right-hand nails with a few layers of acrylic nail stuff to make them thicker. I liked the tone I got with them, and I could strum with the top of the nails and be more percussive that way because of the coating. My duo partner had his that way, and it was the only way I could hold my own in the mix,

[Sweb]

 

Originally posted by DonK It seems most of us use a relatively similar approach: either both hands really short, or left hand really short and right hand still pretty short. That strikes me as being in pretty stark contrast with a lot of the players I read about in AG magazine. It seems a lot of them are really picky about growing their left hand nails long, to the point of using silk wraps or having acrylic nails professionally applied at a salon. I always thought it would feel kind of weird heading to a nail salon once a week and asking for acrylic nails on one hand only, not to mention how strange they'd look at the office!

 

 

Yea, but not uncommon to see guys in the nail salon for just that. While my wife worked at a full service salon there would be appointments on the board for men at half price. I asked why and that was the reason.

[JasmineTea]

I've got calouses built up on my tips that actualy hook the string and give it a snap. I don't get the soft "fleshtone". Not much anyway.

 

I try to keep my nails short, don't actualy pay that close attention to them. Some days I get the nailtone, other days the hooktone.

 

Fretting side is always short, otherwise I'll tear up the fretboard.

[0rbitz9]

I hate nails on the fret board, so I keep

em short on the left hand. On my right

hand, I use the edge of my thumbnail on

a lot of downstrokes, and use the tip of

my index finger to do the upstrokes.

The tips of my midle and ring finger come

into play when sounding several strings

at once.

[recordingtrack1]

fretting hand as short as possible. Right slightly longer but still very short. right thumb a little longer. I pick with the skin and then I drum roll backwards with the backs of my nails at certain times. works well for me.

 

RT1

[Terry Allan Hall]

Obsessively short on both hands...did try the acrylic nails for a month or so, but the middle finger's one would come off at gigs and go flying across the room! My natural nails are pretty thin and weak.

 

Do use thumb/fingerpicks on my Hawaiian, dobro, and banjos and occasionally on my acoustic guitars, but mostly just for the speed...playing w/ the meat sounds sweeter, but slows me down somewhat.

[IanHey]

I like to keep my picking hand nails very short .... about 1/16 to 3/32 of an inch long. When I look at my hand with the palm facing me I can barely see the nails in line with the end of each finger. I keep the thumb nail just a little longer. To avoid breakage .... I buff / polish them almost every day and keep them as short as possible while still being usefull for picking. I find for picking you don't want round or pointed nail ends .... I like them "ramped" ... in other words the nail tips are filed almost square ... about 10 degrees off with the low point on the thumb side of each nail. The low point is the point of attack when I pick a string. I land the flesh just behind the nail on the string .... then push through the string engaging the nail at the low point and using the ramp to complete the stroke. The finger motion is from the knuckle not the finger joint. I also slightly rotate my whole hand so the nail ramps down the string longer, (from the sound hole towards the bridge). ... I find it makes the nails feel stronger, allows a bit more room and gives better control / sound.

 

There are many, many variations .... pushing down harder, more flesh, rotating the hand more, moving towards / away from the bridge, filing the ramps differently etc. etc. But once you get a basic technique with good control .... you can start experimenting. I would say it takes a couple of years before you start feeling like you have the hang of it. When I decided to really work on my right hand technique, (after playing for 20 years or so), I spent about an hour a day for several months just playing one string at a time ... making sure I landed my finger exactly where I wanted it, performed the stroke and made sure it sounded OK. I also alternated between rest and free strokes. The effort was more than worth it.

 

I find that when I play steel strings I tend to use alot more flesh and often all flesh ... but the basic technique of landing accurately on the string then performing the stroke is the same.

[khjavy8]

left hand stays short for the common response here that i dont like my nails hitting the fret board (how in the hell dolly parton hold a guitar is beyond me ) but my right i try to keep nails and pick with them th index nail stays files down from paying and picking , but sometimes after a rough week at work i break a few of em off so sometimes i am picking with no nails i just gotta pick a lil harder to compensate for the lack of volume you get with no nails