# Nail shaping advice



## Apatheosis (Jan 24, 2013)

Hey guys,

I've been growing my nails for several years now in my endeavour to play fingerstyle jazz/comping etc.

However, I've always wondered: what is the best shape? The jack of all trades, if you will, for a beginner/intermediate fingerstyle/fingerpicking player?

I get an inkling that it may be dependant upon your playing style and genre choices, so I'd like to know if anyone can help me out with my nails! 

I play primarily electric guitars and occasionally perform with 7 and 8 string guitars. My passion is jazz and fusion but I'd love to pick up some classical chops along the way.

Any tips, guides or tutorials you could point me towards to help get the optimal sound and performance out of my nails?

Thanks in advance!


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## Baelzebeard (Jan 25, 2013)

I can't believe we're going to talk about nails on SSO.

I get the best results from my nails being just barely long enough to extend past the tips of my fingers, with my thumbnail a bit longer than the others.

What really helps is filing them every 2-3 days to keep the contour smooth and round. Any jagged edges don't let the nail glide over the string evenly and release smoothly.

Of course different hand positioning may call for different needs, so YMMV.


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## Mordacain (Jan 25, 2013)

Baelzebeard said:


> I can't believe we're going to talk about nails on SSO.
> 
> I get the best results from my nails being just barely long enough to extend past the tips of my fingers, with my thumbnail a bit longer than the others.
> 
> ...



This is pretty much I do it when I bother to grow the nails out on my picking hand. As far as shape goes I make a gentle V slope (more or less mimicking a Jazz III pick) on my fingers. For my thumb I make a sort of odd wave shape, somewhat like a wave with the peak on the left most side of my thumb and then taper it sharply don the right side almost to meet the quick.

If I had pictures I'd show it, but I tend to only grow my nails when I'm playing alot of fingerstyle acoustic, which I haven't done in awhile.


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## bandinaboy (Jan 26, 2013)

My classical guitar instructor told me to grow mine so when I look at my hand parallel to my face I should just be able to see a little bit of nail. Problem is my middle finger has the worst hang I have seen, so I have to keep that one a little short. And I personally like to have the top stick out more than the sides, but that is just a preference. But definitely file them all the time, keep the left hand short as hell, and if your having troubles growing them, look into Biotin, basically a vitamin that promotes hair and nail growth. And if all else fails take a ping pong ball, cut it up, and glue it to your fingers! LOL I had a professional do this one time. He broke a nail right before he suppose to go on so he did this, and I couldn't tell much of a difference in tone! haha


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## skeels (Jan 26, 2013)

Oh... My..... God.

PurseForum it is. 


EDIT: for the record, I play fingerstyle, classical and some chicken-pickin' and have no nails to speak of. 

I bite 'em. 

It's all in the tips.


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## ihunda (Jan 26, 2013)

My classical teacher gave me a great tip, to sand the bottom of your nail with fine sand paper. I mean the part that has grown past your fingertip...
This has the effect with time of giving a harder, thicker nail, that worked great for me.
Now for length, a few millimeters past your fingertips is fine IMHO.

And also, using transparent nail polish goes a long towards longevity of your nails although it"s effeminate looking, but we are on purse forum after all


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## InfinityCollision (Jan 26, 2013)

Pleasantly surprised by the number of us here that use nails 

Tonal concerns are pretty subjective. As far as performance, the less nail that actually comes into contact with the string the better. I favor a somewhat oval profile and actually have my nails a tad shorter than I would if I was predominantly playing nylons. Longer nails get a slightly different tone since you remove the fingertip from the tonal equation, but they're more fragile and I personally can't get along with them on a technical level when trying to play more advanced pieces.


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## yellow (Jan 27, 2013)

depends on if ur playing steel (blues or jazz) or nylon (flamenco or classical).

I play flamenco. I file them at the corners so that they look kinda oval as a whole, a symmetrical egg

use a file

(then if u want, get a silk wrap or acrylics to make them stronger)


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## scherzo1928 (Jan 27, 2013)

I sharpen mine.

Yes, they look weird, particularly with my freakish long fingers, but I haven't had a nail break since I started sharpening them over half a year ago. This way I don't touch the strings with my fingers and get a sound I'm very happy with.


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## Indigenous (Jan 28, 2013)

Find a method that works best for you. Everyone has different nails and different fingers. What you want is for your nails to feel like a natural extension of your fingers. Their length is up to what you feel is comfortable; some of the players in my classical studio have half-inch thumbnails, others have much shorter nails. Your nails should also glide on the strings easily, you don't want any catching or hitching. Experiment! Find what works and feels best for you.


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## Hybrid138 (Jan 29, 2013)

I bite my nails... When I did try to grow them out they got in the way of my electric playing and they weren't even that long. So I play classical with no nail basically. Cool to read all these tips though!


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## InfinityCollision (Jan 29, 2013)

Indigenous said:


> Find a method that works best for you. Everyone has different nails and different fingers. What you want is for your nails to feel like a natural extension of your fingers. Their length is up to what you feel is comfortable; some of the players in my classical studio have half-inch thumbnails, others have much shorter nails. Your nails should also glide on the strings easily, you don't want any catching or hitching. Experiment! Find what works and feels best for you.





My nails are just barely long enough to get them into the plucking equation, with my thumb a bit longer but still pretty short by classical standards. It works for me and gets the tone I want, but there's really not a "wrong" length. Longer is great too if you can make good use of them.

Oh, a somewhat non-playing-oriented tip: I grew out the nail on my fretting hand thumb slightly as well. Gives me a nail to work with for getting under tape, can lids, etc without any risk of damaging any of my playing nails.


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## Apatheosis (Jan 31, 2013)

Thanks so much for the replies guys, I'll take it all on board.


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## Malkav (Feb 1, 2013)

I also go with slightly oval shape that extends just a tad in front of the finger, I carry a nail file pretty much everywhere to sort out breaks or chips etc wherever I am otherwise my nails tend to rip very easily as they're quite weak.

Keep in mind a nail file isn't the preference to use as they can actually leave the nail quite jagged and weak, it's recommended you use fine grade water paper to really get a smooth edge to them to avoid snagging on strings etc.

Also whatever you do don't use things like nail hardener, I know it seems like the easy and obvious way to do it, but things that are for fashion seldom work for function. It chokes off your nail and dehydrates it so just stay away from that stuff, your nails from what I understand are basically the same as your hair and as such need similar treatment, instead of using nail hardener or clear coating rub olive oil into them on a daily basis to moisturise them and if at all possible always file down to the desired length, never cut.

Acrylic nails are cool, but then they're your only choice and they don't sound quite like normal nails, they're a touch brighter. The glues and overall covering up of your nail leaves them very weak so once you have acrylics you can't really go back to regular nails without a waiting period - My boss used to use acrylic but now he's using his real nails, he made the switch because he ended up in a scenario where his nails had become so dehydrated from having the acrylics on constantly that the nail specialist (beautician ) he had been seeing told him he needed to wait 3 whole months for them to recover before she could attach acrylics again.

Having long nails for playing is awesome and it really helps facilitate my hybrid picking and opens up a whole bunch of different dynamics and tones for me, also doing harp harmonics ala Steve Morse, however there's a constantly balancing act as when they become a touch too long and you tap you end up creating dings in them which can be annoying to deal with. Quite often I've ended up with a ding in my nail without realising it from 8 finger tapping and literally minutes later when I've switched back to hybrid picking I'll rip a section clean off


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## bondmorkret (Feb 7, 2013)

I've been using hybrid picking for a long time, and have never really given my nails any though, I just keep them trimmed as per usual. I guess I use the flesh more


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## Glosni (Feb 7, 2013)

I used to play with long nails but then I took an arrow... sorry,

I used to play with long nails, but they became to much of a hassle in my day to day life. I started out on a nylon string and no doubt, I very much prefer the clarity you can get with long nails. But when you break a nail you got a real issue, plus I now play more steelstring fingerstyle than classical stuff. And long nails get dirty and the biggest hassle was during sexy time because... well lets just say they have some accidents.

Anway, if you want to play with long nails, the thumb nail is the easiest. Just grow it out until you are comfortable with it.
For care I definitly recommened a sapphir file (I got mine on amazon) and sand paper for the edge, the finest you can get.
The shape depends on the overall shape of your nail, meaning when you look at your nails from front you will see different shapes: almost a perfect half circle (my third finger), a kind of "roof"-type of thing with a very flat top (my second finger), and mix between the two (my first finger).
but basically here is what I was going for back in the day: a ramp that the string can easily glide on. that means the left end should have a nice edge with the skin and then a not-to-steep-but-kind-of-steep climb toward the right end. it really is a trial and error thing, i was filing my nails every other day (pain in the butt). the overall nail shouldn't be to long.
my teacher visits nail salons and gets that weird goo on his nails which is workable with a file, but hard as a diamond. he really likes it, maybe give it a try.
also "Pumping nylon" by... someone has a really good chapter on nails.


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## vansinn (Feb 28, 2013)

As short as possible, so the skin can be used to dampen the strings, and avoid any floppy sounds from flapping nails, plus it'll also allow double hand tapping.
I'll have just a rounded edge on the left side of the fingers (right hand player).
The above also allows playing bass with nails, though this will grind them down fast enough to not need to file them too much 
For me, long nails only applies to flamenco.


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## bondmorkret (Mar 1, 2013)

I basically cut them as short as possible and use the flesh, but then I want a fairly dampened sound, and do a lot of hybrid picking, so I guess it depends on what sound you're after. Experiment!


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## Semi-pro (Mar 6, 2013)

I tried using nails but wore the tips off due to lots of playing when learning hybrid so i "went" back to flesh and now prefer it too cos you don't have to sorry about the condition of the nails.


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## The Rastatute (Mar 6, 2013)

I shape each nail differently for my classical playing. For filing I hold the file flat and run it under the bottom side all the way down the file. (Using right hand as picking hand) On my index I start on the left side of the nail and curve until about the middle of the nail then keep a straight flat file. On the middle I do pretty much the same but have more curve. And my ring and pinky fingers I curve on both sides. And my thumb i grow out as much as I can with curves on both sides. 
Also I keep the length of the nails to about the same size as the width of the strings. I file them every 1-2 days and use micro mesh paper(I buy mine from stringsbymail.com) to file any tiny chips and such and get my nails to a glassy like feeling. 
All this gets great tone and feeling to me


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