guitar playing and long nails...

[Jay Cee]

... are not a good combo. Any of you have to trim down the nails on your fret fingers in order to play well? Or do you have a trade secret that you would like to share?

[Pythos]

I have my nails ultra short on my fretting hand. I find I cannot get the string to sing anywhere near correctly if I have just a small amount of nail. My strumming hand though can have some nailage. (that's a word). Then again I am only a beginner so someone with a bit more playing experience may indeed have a secret.

[Kittykitty]

If you do a good job shapping them, they don't have to be long to look long.
That being said, sometimes mine get crazy. I've learned to play with a bit of an angle.

[Persephone]

That is so funny! I don't play guitar but very often, when people notice my long nails, they ask me if I do! Apparently, the civilian assumption is that long nails aid in guitar playing!

[KrystalA]

I've always kept my fingernails short since I started playing guitar many, many years ago. But I remember watching Charro (spl?) on tv once. She had VERY long nails and played awesome flamenco guitar. I've always wondered how she did that.

[VioletJourney]

It takes practice to get it right. I remember another user on this site, 5150girl, saying she likes to shred EVH with long nails.

[TxKimberly]

It's an either/or thing for me to - I either play guitar with short nails, or have long nails and dont play. I've watched Dolly Parton on TV trying to figure out how she plays with such long nails, and as far as I can tell, I think she uses alternative tunings that allow her to play a chord by laying a finger flat across all strings. In other words, I think she has her guitar tuned to play an E chord when all frets are open.

Persephone - it's probably people like me that started the whole "Long nails = guitar player" because I've used that excuse for at least 20 years. The catch is, like others have mentioned, any guitar player knows that you cant play well with long nails on your fretting hand and so I've been waiting until the day I trot that excuse out to another guitar player and they call me out on it.

[Cassidy]

Try using a slide. Mine's brass and it makes a much better sound than either a plastic one or a shot glass. Many, many blues guitar players tune their guitars to either 'E' or 'G.' One note of caution if anyone does decide to use a slide stay away from .009 'E' string sets. The sound is way too 'tinny.'

[RobinCA]

You have to play with the side of your fingers instead of the tip. Kind of like when you play an F chord and your finger that holds down the B and E string kind of goes sideways. It takes some time to get used to, but that is the only way I can do it when I have my nails on. Good luck.

[WendyH]

Nope--I have to keep my nails short on both hands. Long nails on my picking hand interferes with fingerpicking, and obviously long nails on the fretting hand are a no-go. Hey, that's why they make press-on nails!

[joannemarie barker]

lol I couldn't play with long nails,guitar does make my fingers calloused and hard though

[Jeannie]

I seem to have a problem with playing while dressed. For some reason I just don't have the urge to play while I am Jeannie I really don't know why either. I use press on nails only when I am dressed so I don't have this problem. Kim I think you are right caused I have watched Dolly and I agree with you I think she is tuned in E. I am going to pay a little more attention to see how many female artist are playing that way just to satisfy my curiosity.

[Julogden]

I've always kept the nails on my left (fretting) hand short, but recently I've been letting the nails on that hand grow to match my right. My guitar playing isn't that important to me right now, so I'm making longer nails a priority, and I'm liking it.

I'll be turning 60 in a few days, maybe it's time to lay the guitars down and let the nails really grow.

We'll see. I may change my mind, but I really like nails that are a bit longer, so I'll just play guitar badly, for now anyway.

Carol

[Pythos]

But playing with a slide won't let you do intricate and fast stuff like this....while dressed as a girl, and shredding like a madman. LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDjumx-mY-Y

[Mona]

Short nails on fretting hand, long nails on picking hand. I fingerpick and hybrid pick (flatpick and fingers). And yes Pythos, Hizaki simply rocks!

[Tanya C]

I play a nylon string guitar with a wide neck so it's easier to lay my fingers flat because the strings are spaced further apart than most steel guitars.
But I got to the point years ago where I just got fed up with nails and all the difficulty they presented, so I cut them off and haven't grown them back since. If I need them I can always use fakes.

[crystalbath]

I find it impossible with long nails plus I think it wrecks them during play lol

[Shananigans]

Haha yeah stringed instruments and nails don't get along. I had to file my nails almost every day for 13 years when I was playing the violin. I couldn't even just keep one hand on the shorter side because a lot of the pieces involved pizzicato. My favorite pieces were by Paganini and you could get away with left hand pizzicato, but I mean...it's weird having nails that aren't uniform in length. Just have them ALL short if you play an instrument. I never understand long thumbnails or pinky nails.

If I had a violin on me right now, I would chop my nails off again in a heart beat to play. If music is your passion and such...