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Fingernails and the Classical Guitarist

Last Updated September 28, 2004

Classical guitarists have been plagued for centuries with the question of what to do about the right-hand fingernails. While the 19^th century guitarist Mauro Guiliani was comfortable with their use, his contemporary, Fernando Sor, rejected them completely, with the exception of one note in one of his études. He claimed, perhaps rightly so, that the fingernails yielded too harsh a sound. Fortunately, modern technology has solved this problem in the form of the fingernail buffer, available at beauty supply stores everywhere. With these, the edges of one’s fingernails can be finely polished, yielding a brilliant, yet smooth tone when applied to the string. The four-way buffers are preferred, and the proper trimming and buffing technique takes a while to master, especially if one of your fingernails is slightly warped.

The left hand fingernails should, of course, be maximally trimmed, so that no nail overhangs the tip of the finger. Otherwise, they get in the way of fretting. A classical guitarist can therefore recognize one of his/her own species in a crowd by examination of the fingernails which are neatly trimmed and polished on the right hand and short on the left. Feel free to use this piece of knowledge to impress your friends in a Sherlock Holmes sort of way.

Watson: This one is quite a poser, is it not? We know absolutely nothing about the victim.

Sherlock: Not entirely Watson. We do know that he played classical guitar.

Watson: Surely you must have flipped your lid this time Holmes. How could you possibly tell that he played a guitar, much less a classical guitar.

Sherlock: Elementary my dear Watson. Look at the fingernails. Those on the left hand are cut close to prevent them from interfering with fretting. Those on the right are neatly cut, slightly long, and buffed on the edges to a fine polish to provide a clear and sonorous tone when striking the string.

Watson: Indeed you amaze me Holmes. How do you manage it?

Sherlock: There’s no end to what you can learn if you read the right web sites.

Of course, if you have an important concert to play, you are guaranteed to break one of the fingernails that you have cultivated so carefully. When this catastrophe occurs, you should (according to Ron Pearl) carefully trim a pingpong ball in the shape of a fingernail and glue it on to your nail with superglue. The resulting surface is amazingly similar to that of the natural nail. In addition, the curvature of the pingpong ball is similar to that of the natural nail. I can verify from personal experience that other materials, such as a piece of a plastic Coca Cola bottle, can be used, but they do not polish well, and do not yield a good tone. Also, if you are concerned that the pingpong ball piece will be glued to your nail forever, rest assured that it will pop off almost magically after about 3 days.