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Shaping Your Nails"Finally! A shaping your nails page with so much
It is said that the playing of the guitar with nails began somewhere around the time of Aguado and most probably originated with him. Sooner or later, if you play classical guitar and want to have decent volume and good tone, you're going to have to use the nails of your right hand to pluck and play the strings. You still do, however, use the flesh of the pad of the finger as well as the nail to produce a warm, clear, penetrating tone. Sharon Isbin writing in her excellent Classical Guitar Answer Book said... "Classical guitarists can play without nails, but they should be aware that in doing so they are sacrificing certain possibilities of tone color and projection - all of which affect interpretation and musical presentation."
Like many topics in classical guitar there is always conjecture, debate, disagreement and differing opinion and shaping your nails is no different. This is healthy and will ensure that classical guitar stays vibrant and relevant as we move further into this new century. There is always a core of knowledge from which our standard practices spring. Core knowledge that has stood the test of time over many centuries. If you follow the basic tenets of what I'm about to tell you, you won't go far wrong. If you need to make adjustments to suit your physical shape or mental approach then don't be afraid to do so. Let's begin! When shaping your nails it mostly depends on what you feel comfortable with. The most common methods are shaping your nails to follow the shape of the fingers themselves and having a more angled approach. Here is a little diagram of nail shaping from one of my favorite classical guitar books...
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If you turned the finger around so that the nail is pointing away from you, you would see that the nail length is just a few millimeters above the finger itself. In other words if you hold your finger at eye-height, you should just see the fingernail protruding above the flesh. If you have it much longer than this it tends to catch on the strings and can be very awkward. If you have it much shorter than this you tend to miss the string itself when playing. The other angled method as seen in the lower diagram is used to produce a "very dark, warm sound" according to Mr Glise. I can attest to this as I have shaped my nails like this on many an occasion. I often tend to reverse that angle as well, making the protruding part on the left of the nail rather than the right hand side. It just seems to make me feel more comfortable as I feel I can get a good "grip" on the strings. Whether you use either of these methods when shaping your nails is based on personal decisions of finger shape, nail arch etc. Something that everyone can do to help their sound, however, is to use a very fine sandpaper to smooth off the nail, particularly the inside edge. Left raw, the nail can produce a very scratchy, uneven tone which is definitely what you don't want. Also an un-papered nail could have uneven and slightly protruding edges that catch the string and cause some of those notes we all know as "clangers". Having done all this you still must realize that it's not only the nail that plays the string. If you ever listen to Segovia (and who hasn't?), you'll notice that his very warm tone comes from a mixture of playing the strings with the flesh and the nail. He really perfected this technique and that, along with the true passion that resided in his heart, was one of the major reasons he sounded so good. Oh yes! You're right! Hours and hours of practice too:)) Here's how Anthony Glise explains the technique in his book that I've mentioned above... "Using nails is somewhat confusing to beginners since they often assume that only the nail is used to sound the string. In fact, only the nail releases the string. When correctly placed on the string (at the exact point from which the finger will play), both the nail and the pad of the flesh at the fingertip will touch the string at the same moment - the pad will stop the string (much like the damper pad on a piano), and the nail will be simultaneously positioned to re-strike the string."
Don't worry if this sounds too hard or confusing if you're a beginner. With slow and concentrated practice this technique becomes ingrained in your playing. After a while it's like anything you do - second nature. Just like shaping your nails:)) Another important point is to make sure that you take care of your basic health because the health and strength of your nails is directly related to overall body health. Taking a good daily dose of vitamins and nutritional supplements can also be of great benefit. I hope this little discussion has made the topic of shaping your nails a little clearer for you. For a second opinion on
shaping your nails just click here...
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