Phil Taylor
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Post by Phil Taylor on Jan 6, 2016 9:17:36 GMT
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Martin
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Post by Martin on Jan 6, 2016 13:26:45 GMT
Good article! I started off without 'proper' nails, but took the time to grow them for guitar, and now I agree it can be a proper hassle, and a broken nail does indeed mean curtailing the playing. I would certainly consider going back to using 'flesh' rather than fingernails, but I need at least one long nail anyway, for the banjo
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Andy P
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Post by Andy P on Jan 6, 2016 14:10:07 GMT
but I need at least one long nail anyway, for the banjo Here's a handy selection Martin
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Martin
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Post by Martin on Jan 6, 2016 14:16:50 GMT
but I need at least one long nail anyway, for the banjo Here's a handy selection Martin How very thoughtful
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Andy P
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Post by Andy P on Jan 6, 2016 16:09:40 GMT
Yes, an interesting article. I've been using nails for the last 12 months or so, having found a good acrylic nail-bar (I'm the only male client of three lovely ladies ). The main issue is the very slight scraping quality of the finger-nails but I can reduce this by some careful thinning with a file. I never use a thumbpick as I can't match the volume it produces with my fingers. I do believe flesh creates the ideal sound but I pursue the nail option because I can't get the projection without them.
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missclarktree
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Post by missclarktree on Jan 6, 2016 17:11:13 GMT
I've always used nails except when a nail has broken or, occasionally, I've somehow found them all bitten down . I can't get a good sound with flesh only, but then again, I haven't had any practice doing it that way. I repair broken nails with tissue paper and superglue.
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andrewjw
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Post by andrewjw on Jan 6, 2016 19:32:11 GMT
Sadly I'm going to spoil it all by suggesting that if you'd like to enjoy both tone and projection it is worth trying these... www.eaglemusicshop.com/prod/guitar-finger-picks/Pro-Pik-Sharpie.htmI use the brass variety which gives a more mellow tone... They take a while to get used to ...my excuse is a misspent youth trying to make myself heard in noisy pubs in the pre PA/pick up era... Perfect for banjo's I'd have thought...
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Post by jonnymosco on Jan 6, 2016 22:15:58 GMT
So that there may be no misunderstanding in connection with the "nail stroke," let us state, right here, that it does not mean that the nails should be long enough to be used as a sort of plectrum. They should be filed and kept smooth and project only about one thirty-second of an inch beyond the fleshy part of the finger tips. One can readily see that, when striking the strings in this manner, the finger tip begins and the edge of the nail ends the stroke, giving the tone a certain amount of crispness and brightness impossible to procure with the fleshy part of finger tip alone. All those fortunate enough to hear Andres Segovia, have marveled at the beautiful, scintillating tone he gets from his instrument and the variety of color and other tonal effects resulting from his using this so-called "nail stroke". From an American publication dating 1938. (ETUDE, Volume LVI number 4.)
Tarrega broke the standard of using flesh-only (which is still the norm for gut strings due to their coarse surface). The blogger's use of the term nail-only re. Segovia must refer to flesh and nail which is the standard for nylon players today.
I agree with the blogger's emphasis on tone quality, but, nail-only produces a crisp but thin sound, flesh-only, an undefined warm sound (others may disagree). That's why a combination is best, full, yet with articulation. As a steel string player too, I use the same approach (apart from for tremolos or celtic triplets where nail-only enables speed).
I had thought that the practice amongst concert guitarists who predominantly play double topped guitars (loud and full in themselves) to use only nails, however Craig Ogden, who plays a Smallman (double top) encourages the use of flesh and nail, perhaps he's the exception.
The really important thing though, with any use of nails regarding good tone production and creating a versatile range of tones, is obsessive buffing - unless you want a blues 'growl' of course!
Jonny no nails (they're acrylic)
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Post by vikingblues on Jan 7, 2016 8:36:09 GMT
I think I got used to a nail/flesh combination over the years as a mainly classical guitar player and I didn't change that habit when I moved to steel string acoustic or indeed on earlier moving to playing electric guitar fingerstyle too. A plus for me with having some nail is more versatility in tones by adjusting the angle of the fingerstroke to give more or less nail influence on the note played. If I could play like you Phil by switching to flesh only I'd be at the nail clippers now, but unfortunately there's more to your playing than that. To be honest I'm happy if I hit the right notes (hopefully in the right order) with reasonable tone so the subtleties of tone of flesh v nail are probably too advanced for me! Mark
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leoroberts
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Post by leoroberts on Jan 7, 2016 15:34:52 GMT
I just use whatever happens to be on the end of me fingers at the time - if that's a nail: champion. If it's not: champion.
I set myself low standards (and consistently fail to meet them)
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Post by creamburmese on Jan 7, 2016 21:42:39 GMT
- I think there's a list of jokes somewhere from a classical guitarist along the lines of "how do you know you're talking to a classical guitarist?" with answers like - you can have an entire 20 min discussion on the virtues of different types of sandpaper.... (I had to look up the one about uses for a spoon...) I just hope I don't have to follow along in the footsteps of my orchestra friend who broke a nail off the day before a performance - she survived after an emergency application of "guitar players nails" Mine have greeted the arrival of winter weather by starting to chip so they are considerably shorter than they were a couple of months ago. That's my excuse for mediocre sound and I'm sticking to it.
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