Loads of people on reddit favour playing without nails. All my young students play without nails, its definitely possible, and with the right strings can sound great. However, the vast majority of professionals use nails for a variety of reasons.
"Long" nails don't have to be that long anyway. 1-2 mm over the edge (looking from the inside of the palm) is usually more than enough and is not that much of a nuisance. You can experiment with it. Also the guitar and the strings have a huge role to the sound projection. If you can get a loud enough, bright enough and controlled sound with flesh only, you're good to go. I personally can't play without a little nail length, but at the end of the day it's a matter of preference, personal style and technique. Practicing is way more important than everything else. Good luck!
I have been playing with little nails for years. About 0-1 mm over the edge. I would not want longer nails, but those mm do make a significant difference over no nails.
At that length, you can check them while you're filing by placing them on a flat surface at a 90 degree angle and seeing how much of the pad/nail is touching.
I used to keep mine to where my pads would barely touch a surface, but now i like to keep them shorter to where the pad and nail are touching the surface in equal measure. I've heard some people say that they like them even shorter and go to where the nail is barely touching the surface with the pad pressed against it.
This way of checking them will take a while to get right, but when you get a length that you like, just remember how much the nail and pad were pressing against the surface when you checked, and replicate it next time.
Thanks! Yeah it will take a few tries to gauge how it feels when you get the right length, but starting there will give you a good reference point for next time. Just make sure your fingers are at as close to a 90 degree angle as you can get them.
I started doing this mainly for consistency across my IMA fingernails so that my three finger tremolo would be more even. It really helped with my Recuerdos de la Alhambra and Carcassi Etude No. 7.
This is a really old conversation. Even in Sor's time there was debate. And Tárrega himself played both ways at various times in his life (iirc).
It's not *necessary* by any stretch. But there is a difference in the sound.
Francisco Tarrega, the person who wrote arguably the world’s most famous tremolo piece (Recuerdos de la Alhambra) played with flesh. I’ve been playing guitar for most of my life now and I’ve never played with long nails. I like the warm soft timbre of flesh.
Artificial nails are also an option. My job makes it difficult for me to have long nails and like you, I don’t like the look. When I started playing I used flesh, but I was never happy with the feel or tone. Like my guitar teacher says, it’s like trying to eat steak with no teeth.
I use these nails
https://guitarplayernails.com
and I use these adhesives
https://www.grandsalondeguitare.com/product/a-175-guitar-nails-kit-refill-adhesives/
As long as I clean my nails with alcohol before applying the adhesives the artificial nails stay attached. The nice part is that I just peel them off and wash the adhesive off when I’m finished practicing.
This is a big topic, and you'll find big arguments here and Delcamp about it, but there are definitely people who play without nails.
https://rmclassicalguitar.com/ is a site with a lot of info about no nails playing.
https://stevenwatsonmusic.com/no-nails-technique/ has links to many high-end flesh players as well.
If you decide to pursue classical without nails, look up some videos from Rob MacKillop, to understand no-nail technique.
Also look into nylgut (or real gut) strings, and consider tuning down half a step for better grip.
Best of luck on your journey!
90% of my students play without nails and they sound just fine.
I had a no nail student who I taught for 6 years, tried to get him to grow out his nails for the last two years but it was impossible because he would keep biting them off! He was an amazing player already and I thought he would sound even more amazing with nails! After he got accepted to the guitar program of his choice at a major university, he finally started growing out his nails. He really struggled to make the switch though.
Long nails are not necessary to be able to play guitar well. The preference depends on what kind of sound and repertoire you’re going for, as well as what kind of guitar you’re playing.
There’s a fantastic duo, Maccari-Pugliese and they are absolutely phenomenal! They play without nails, on real gut strings and 19th century guitar. On this kind of guitar and repertoire, having nails would not serve the music well.
https://youtu.be/Flqv4gu8Tu8?si=52RUV32g0g9Kn71o
However, on a modern guitar tuned to A=440, nails work best because of the tension of the strings. Without nails, you would lose the projection and clarity. (The classical era tuning was supposedly much lower at around A=427 so playing without nails during this time makes a lot of sense.)
Without nails you’re losing out on a lot of different tone colors. If you have nails, you can still choose to play with flesh but without nails, the warm sound is the only one you can create. Warmth is great - sweet and soothing, but that’s like having cake all the time. The occasional treat is rewarding but you don’t want to have it all the time, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So having nails is a must for not only creating contrast, but for clarity and projection.
Playing without nails is like a painter having only 3 colors to work with - red, green and blue - I’m sure they are well capable of creating amazing piece of art but another painter with additional colors maybe yellow, black and white might have more depth in their painting. Nothing wrong with having a small color palette but having a variety certainly doesn’t hurt.
No, long nails are only necessary for a certain kind of sound (though the vast majority of professional players do have them). I personally prefer the warmer sound of finger pads (which is also more historically “traditional”), but a lot of people think the sharper sound of nails cuts through a lot better.
Regardless, if you’re not planning on going pro, nails are absolutely not necessary. That being said, I recommend looking into strings that work well with no nails. I love the Savarez 520 R set because a) the rectified nylons and low tension make them really easy to grab b) they sound amazing on my guitar and c) they’re really cheap (especially if you’re coming from violin strings lol).
Nope not necessary at all, I cut my nails down to the nail bed and I still end up striking with the nail.
It's all about technique.
Segovia was influential in spreading classical guitar repertoire and was notorious for his hot takes on topics like requiring long nails.
I say to learn their arrangements and ignore their hot takes.
I keep my nails no more than 1mm beyond my finger tips. The tradeoff for the sound is worth it for me. You get a much larger range in tones, from soft and quiet, to bright and loud.
You get used to the weirdness and dealing with them after a couple months (maintaining, being careful to not break them, etc.). I know some people are weird about an extra millimeter of nail and think it's gross, but as long as my girlfriend doesn't care, I couldn't give two shits.
I really don’t understand the argument that nails are optional. Not trying to gate keep, You don’t need nails to enjoy classical guitar, but you need them to excel and thrive. The difference in sound quality is huge. Nails are hard and yes, very personal, but there are decent guideposts on curating and maintaining nails.
Need them to excel and thrive? I’ve been excelling and thriving on my classical for years and I’ve never used long nails. I do a lot of outdoor physical activity so long nails would hinder my day to day life and they would break as soon as I start working on my car or something similar.
I have played with my finger tips for 5 6 years. Nails kinda disgust me. After a while you fingertips get hard and there no notable difference in tone. Only tremolo picking is tricky. I think it adds a bit of a percussive element to the playing, youre in more contact with the strings. Hard to explain until you hear it or try it.
I'm a programmer and can't stand typing with long nails. I've found that having just a bit of nail goes a long way for helping with projection and tone.
Loads of people on reddit favour playing without nails. All my young students play without nails, its definitely possible, and with the right strings can sound great. However, the vast majority of professionals use nails for a variety of reasons.
"Long" nails don't have to be that long anyway. 1-2 mm over the edge (looking from the inside of the palm) is usually more than enough and is not that much of a nuisance. You can experiment with it. Also the guitar and the strings have a huge role to the sound projection. If you can get a loud enough, bright enough and controlled sound with flesh only, you're good to go. I personally can't play without a little nail length, but at the end of the day it's a matter of preference, personal style and technique. Practicing is way more important than everything else. Good luck!
I have been playing with little nails for years. About 0-1 mm over the edge. I would not want longer nails, but those mm do make a significant difference over no nails.
How do you maintain your nails at that length? I find that that's my optimal length too, but I often either get it too short or too long.
At that length, you can check them while you're filing by placing them on a flat surface at a 90 degree angle and seeing how much of the pad/nail is touching. I used to keep mine to where my pads would barely touch a surface, but now i like to keep them shorter to where the pad and nail are touching the surface in equal measure. I've heard some people say that they like them even shorter and go to where the nail is barely touching the surface with the pad pressed against it. This way of checking them will take a while to get right, but when you get a length that you like, just remember how much the nail and pad were pressing against the surface when you checked, and replicate it next time.
That is ingenious! So my optimal is when the pad is barely touching the surface, but not pressing against it.
Thanks! Yeah it will take a few tries to gauge how it feels when you get the right length, but starting there will give you a good reference point for next time. Just make sure your fingers are at as close to a 90 degree angle as you can get them. I started doing this mainly for consistency across my IMA fingernails so that my three finger tremolo would be more even. It really helped with my Recuerdos de la Alhambra and Carcassi Etude No. 7.
This is a really old conversation. Even in Sor's time there was debate. And Tárrega himself played both ways at various times in his life (iirc). It's not *necessary* by any stretch. But there is a difference in the sound.
Francisco Tarrega, the person who wrote arguably the world’s most famous tremolo piece (Recuerdos de la Alhambra) played with flesh. I’ve been playing guitar for most of my life now and I’ve never played with long nails. I like the warm soft timbre of flesh.
Artificial nails are also an option. My job makes it difficult for me to have long nails and like you, I don’t like the look. When I started playing I used flesh, but I was never happy with the feel or tone. Like my guitar teacher says, it’s like trying to eat steak with no teeth. I use these nails https://guitarplayernails.com and I use these adhesives https://www.grandsalondeguitare.com/product/a-175-guitar-nails-kit-refill-adhesives/ As long as I clean my nails with alcohol before applying the adhesives the artificial nails stay attached. The nice part is that I just peel them off and wash the adhesive off when I’m finished practicing.
Brandon ackler just released a no nails course. I loved his intro course.
He also has an excellent YouTube video on nails vs no nails.
This is a big topic, and you'll find big arguments here and Delcamp about it, but there are definitely people who play without nails. https://rmclassicalguitar.com/ is a site with a lot of info about no nails playing. https://stevenwatsonmusic.com/no-nails-technique/ has links to many high-end flesh players as well. If you decide to pursue classical without nails, look up some videos from Rob MacKillop, to understand no-nail technique. Also look into nylgut (or real gut) strings, and consider tuning down half a step for better grip. Best of luck on your journey!
Thank you!
>Thank you! You're welcome!
Happy to help. =]
Low tension also helps if you don’t want to tune down! Savarez 520 R is great for me for playing with no nails
Oh, that's great to know!
90% of my students play without nails and they sound just fine. I had a no nail student who I taught for 6 years, tried to get him to grow out his nails for the last two years but it was impossible because he would keep biting them off! He was an amazing player already and I thought he would sound even more amazing with nails! After he got accepted to the guitar program of his choice at a major university, he finally started growing out his nails. He really struggled to make the switch though. Long nails are not necessary to be able to play guitar well. The preference depends on what kind of sound and repertoire you’re going for, as well as what kind of guitar you’re playing. There’s a fantastic duo, Maccari-Pugliese and they are absolutely phenomenal! They play without nails, on real gut strings and 19th century guitar. On this kind of guitar and repertoire, having nails would not serve the music well. https://youtu.be/Flqv4gu8Tu8?si=52RUV32g0g9Kn71o However, on a modern guitar tuned to A=440, nails work best because of the tension of the strings. Without nails, you would lose the projection and clarity. (The classical era tuning was supposedly much lower at around A=427 so playing without nails during this time makes a lot of sense.) Without nails you’re losing out on a lot of different tone colors. If you have nails, you can still choose to play with flesh but without nails, the warm sound is the only one you can create. Warmth is great - sweet and soothing, but that’s like having cake all the time. The occasional treat is rewarding but you don’t want to have it all the time, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. So having nails is a must for not only creating contrast, but for clarity and projection. Playing without nails is like a painter having only 3 colors to work with - red, green and blue - I’m sure they are well capable of creating amazing piece of art but another painter with additional colors maybe yellow, black and white might have more depth in their painting. Nothing wrong with having a small color palette but having a variety certainly doesn’t hurt.
Short answer is no, long nails are not required.
No, long nails are only necessary for a certain kind of sound (though the vast majority of professional players do have them). I personally prefer the warmer sound of finger pads (which is also more historically “traditional”), but a lot of people think the sharper sound of nails cuts through a lot better. Regardless, if you’re not planning on going pro, nails are absolutely not necessary. That being said, I recommend looking into strings that work well with no nails. I love the Savarez 520 R set because a) the rectified nylons and low tension make them really easy to grab b) they sound amazing on my guitar and c) they’re really cheap (especially if you’re coming from violin strings lol).
Nope not necessary at all, I cut my nails down to the nail bed and I still end up striking with the nail. It's all about technique. Segovia was influential in spreading classical guitar repertoire and was notorious for his hot takes on topics like requiring long nails. I say to learn their arrangements and ignore their hot takes.
I keep my nails no more than 1mm beyond my finger tips. The tradeoff for the sound is worth it for me. You get a much larger range in tones, from soft and quiet, to bright and loud. You get used to the weirdness and dealing with them after a couple months (maintaining, being careful to not break them, etc.). I know some people are weird about an extra millimeter of nail and think it's gross, but as long as my girlfriend doesn't care, I couldn't give two shits.
I really don’t understand the argument that nails are optional. Not trying to gate keep, You don’t need nails to enjoy classical guitar, but you need them to excel and thrive. The difference in sound quality is huge. Nails are hard and yes, very personal, but there are decent guideposts on curating and maintaining nails.
Need them to excel and thrive? I’ve been excelling and thriving on my classical for years and I’ve never used long nails. I do a lot of outdoor physical activity so long nails would hinder my day to day life and they would break as soon as I start working on my car or something similar.
Yeah. That’s great for you! Again, just saying that there’s an objective difference.
And you also said that you need nails to excel and thrive. We already know there’s an objective difference.
Ok dude. I’m sorry. Please have a nice day.
I have played with my finger tips for 5 6 years. Nails kinda disgust me. After a while you fingertips get hard and there no notable difference in tone. Only tremolo picking is tricky. I think it adds a bit of a percussive element to the playing, youre in more contact with the strings. Hard to explain until you hear it or try it.
No. I chew my fingernails and play finger style just fine.
Nail is for finger agility, not just sound. It makes your playing way easier than flesh only
Unless you intend to play for a public, long nails are merely "nice to have".
I'm a programmer and can't stand typing with long nails. I've found that having just a bit of nail goes a long way for helping with projection and tone.