The Good Musician

Classical guitarists need to take care of their nails. Even the occasional finger-picker out there should make sure he has a good set of right-hand nails to achieve a major shift in tone quality.

Here’s Tips to make sure your nails are in good health:

• Get a good shaping file: A great file is The Body Shop emery board, a white nail file that’s quite rough and will help shape your nails.
• Get a big nail shiner: Also available at The Body Shop, a nail shiner usually has three different surfaces. One’s for removing ridges, the other buffs out bumps and the third part shines the nail.
• Nail ointment: As weird as it may sound, if your nails go brittle, get some nail ointment for the night. If your nails are strong like steel, you’ll never worry about picking too hard again.
• Shape it like a “T”: There are various schools of thought on how to shape the nail. My personal preference is to keep the front edge straight and perpendicular to the finger, like the top line of a “T”. Keep the edges slightly rounded, but don’t make your nail pointy or round. The T-Shape serves as a jumping board for the string. The longer the launching strip, the more energy goes behind the string.
• Keep them short: You heard right, it’s not really about having looong nails, it’s about having properly shaped ones. Finger picking always consists of a good mix of flesh and nail. That said, keeping your nail no longer than the tip of your finger will ensure you get this mix. Experiment here, as people tend to have varying softness of fingertips. I have very fleshy tips that push in easily, so I need relatively short nails.
• Groom right, destroy left: Annihilate any nails on your left hand. While your right hand is all nice, shiny and “T”-shaped, make sure you have no chance of friction with the fretboard on the left.

  That’s it. Follow these tips and you’re set to pick the strings like a maestro.

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