I am primarily a flatpicker and would like to dable in some fingerpicking. Thinking maybe some acoustic blues, some pretty stuff in open tunings, some Doc and Merle Travis.

How important are long finger nails on the picking hand? I.e. could I get by with skin or finger picks?

I've been a fingerpicker more than any other style for 43 years, and it's impossible to have worse nails than I do. They have the toughness of generic saran wrap. I think to be a classical player nails are pretty much non-negotiable. It's possible to have artificial nails put on, depending on how your feel about going to a manicurist. On steel string, I actually kind of like have the tonal difference between skin on the one hand and picks on the other (I use plastic, since I find the metal ones too....uh, metallic). It takes a bit of practice to get used to the different feel, but technique, I'd say, is more important than strong built in nails. If you have 'em, more power to you. I had a friend who couldn't play a lick but he had nails he could use as a screwdriver. tom

Tom (Friedrichs),

I fingerpick about 80% of the time and don't have the classical guitar nails to which Tom (sonoman) is referring. In fact, mine are only about even with the ends of my fingertips.

What you'll ultimately find is the more you do it, the more you'll "learn" where the ends of your nails are. I prefer mine at their current length because I can use the tips of them when I want (which is most of the time) but can also consciously use bare flesh when the need arises. So it's sorta the best of both worlds, in my opinion.

Mike,

I'm glad to hear that's working for you because that's where I'm headed: getting my nails as even with the ends of my fingers as possible. I hate having to keep my nails longer for fingerstyle, but it's a necessary evil.

One of the many things I envy about L.J. and Tommy Emmanuel is the whole no-nail thing they've got going. Fingertip-style was a no-choice thing for Tommy because, like Tom, his nails just aren't strong enough.

I think nails are important enough of a consideration for the fingerpicker to spend some experimenting.

I had no nails, played fingerstyle for a few years, and I thought it was great. And then I took a year's worth of classical guitar lessons from a guitar Ph.D. who could really teach -- super experience, that was. I worked my way through Book 1 of the Sagreras method. What a foundation! That was an important year for my guitar development and though I don't often play classical guitar on a nylon string instrument anymore, I take with me all the learning that occurred.

With the nails in particular, I find that I keep mine at about a medium length -- long enough to get a string but not long enough to trip over the strings -- a totally personal preference. I've seen players with longer nails than mine, and that doesn't work for me. Also, I have about medium strength nails, but they ain't at all pretty, but they seem to work pretty well for the kind of music you're interested in as I play some of that, too. My classical guitar teacher introduced me to the likes of a nail file, something I'd never used before, and I now I know how to use that to get the shape that I need (smooth edge, no rough spots, etc.) Clippers work well enough for taking chunks off the nail, but the nail file gives you a bit more control. My classical guitar teacher also suggested using some very fine grit sandpaper to clean things up after the nail file, but I've never gone that far.

Also, I would say that a practicality also arises here -- I type away on a laptop for work and I play piano, too -- longish nails cause me difficulty there on both counts. Finally, I definitely notice when I don't have nails on my picking hand, and for me its a difference maker. Using a classical technique with some amount of nails on a steel string is my favorite way to play and it gives the best tone I can make with the combination of flesh and nail together.

Anyway, see what you can do with your own nails and get some information on shape so you can see what works best for you and the kind of music you want to make.

quote:

How important are long finger nails on the picking hand? I.e. could I get by with skin or finger picks?

IMO, "long finger nails" aren't so important, but nails at least long enough to contact the strings are very useful for creating different tonal qualities. With the right length you can use the flesh of your fingertips and/or your nails together in varying degrees depending on how you change the positions of your hand and fingers. IMO, the alternatives (only skin or fingerpicks, are much more limiting because you can't get a combination of the two).

Also, long fingernails tend to break easily and you often have to cut them down to the skin to let them re-grow. If they're a moderate length they're much stronger and less prone to breakage. When they do break, you can put a drop of Loctite Super Attack glue (Crazy Glue) on the crack and you can use that nail until it grows enough where the damaged part (along with the glue) can be trimmed off. Just don't get that glue on your flesh . . .

My nails are only slightly longer than my finger tips. If I turn palms up, they extend from my finger tips approx. 1/16". I don't let them get much longer.
I do like the abiliity to use nails and flesh against the strings as desired. It makes for different tones.
I also use a hardner on my nails which is very helpful.

I realize that this is a little late for a reply but here is my 2c worth. I have been all over the map with fingernail length. When I was playing mostly nylon strings I wore acrylic nails. What a pain in the A**. They lift off where the glue is not solid etc. and if you do manage to tear one off accidentally, OUCH. I found the sound of them on steel to be tolerable but bright. I have exceptionally brittle nails and I keep them just behind the end of my fingertips. Mostly because that is as long as they get because they are being ground down by the strings. I guess this makes me lucky because I have found that this enables me to strike the string with or without using the nail offering a wide variety of tones. Tommy Emmanuel says that he does not use his nails but callouses that have grown on his fingertips. I guess in the end it is a matter of what sound you are looking for.
Hope this helps.

I'm kinda with Mike D. on the medium nail thing. I need them because i hate the feeling of plastic or metal on my fingers and just like that sound of nail better than flesh only.

I'm an ex-baseball pitcher and actually threw a major league quality knuckleball that I could control using nails on my index and middle fingers of my right hand. What a lucky guy eh...I got double duty out of my nails. When I was a kid I read an article about Hoyt Willhelm in The Sporting News and it inspired me to try the knuckleball. There was a picture with the article and it looked like he put his nails in between the seams of the baseball so I tried it and it worked.

My problem was that I don't always position the finger to get the nail into play and when I do, if I am sloppy, the string slices through the nail.
I gave upon and started using picks. Slow going but its working for me.

I study Classical guitar and have no fingernails.

A slight edge of a nail is fine for me although I have an index fingernail that is as thin as paper so its useless anyway.

You get more dynamics and options with nails but its not essential, I actually think flesh contact sounds beautiful. Never brittle.

On steel string guitars you can drive the instrument easier with nails but again you adapt and tips get callous.

I read a Leo Kottke interview a few years ago, he prefers short nails and favors flesh to nail tone these days. He's a pretty good fingerpicker so if flesh is good enough for him it's good enough for me.