I find that my nails get in the way sometimes. Do I put my fingers to vertical on the strings? Do I cut them more they are not that long.
Hi Ruben, welcome to the community! Iām an āadvancing beginnerā (early Grade 3) and I still occasionally have this problem. Iām pretty sure for me itās user error, because like for you, it only happens sometimes. That said, it might be worth posting a photo of you holding the pick (and showing how long your nails are) for folks more skilled than I to provide feedback. That said, it might be awkward to get that photo with your hand in strumming position.
Andā¦if itās your thing, consider visiting the Introduce Yourself topic and saying an official āHelloā!
When I turn my hands over and look at the finger pads, I canāt see the nails on my fretting hand at all. And I like long nails, lol.
Are you talking about the nails on your fretting hand? (You posted to the discussion about a lesson on holding the guitar pick, hence my question.)
Assuming you are talking about the fretting hand, the answers to your questions are yes and yes. When fretting a chord you want your fingers to be perpendicular to the fretboard. To achieve this, you have to cut your nails quite short, basically as short as you can. I find that the nail on the index finger often gives me trouble on a normal C chord ā I have to keep that one cut very short.
Its while forming chords on the freds I feel like my nails are on the snares and not the skin of my fingers. I have no issues with holding the pick. Maybe I should have posted this on another video as reaction sorry for the confusion.
Hi Ruben,
When I started playing I had to cut the nails on my fretting hand very short or the nails would cause my fingertip to lift off the fretboard and cause buzzy or muted notes. As my technique has improved, I find nail length is not such a problem. So yes, if your nails are causing problems, cut them regularly.
This topic is about holding a pick, hence the initial confusion about your issue.
Hi Ruben.
Good to see you here. Ya found a great place to talk and learn all things guitar.
I see folks play with long nails. No idea how they do that.
Myself, I keep them as short as I can. If I see the white of the tip of the nail, itās time to trim them.
This is usually at least once a week it seems. It amazes me as to how fast they grow.
To support this idea, check out the callouses on your fingertips. Mine are right under the nail, right on the tip of the finger. Ya can see that if ya had long nails, the nail would hit the fretboard and make it so youād have to flatten your finger to fret the note. I donāt play with my fingers flat to the fretboard, hopfully I place the tip of my finger on the string. I donāt want to contact the fretboard with any part of my finger.
fwiw, I cut my nails off both hands. I try to do some finger picking and even that I find I prefer the nails short. I āthinkā I can control the dynamics of my picking hand better with short nails on the picking hand.
Anyways, cut 'em short. Mine interfere with my fretting hand for sure if they are too long.
Have fun on your journey.
I have naturally long nails that made fretting really difficult. I found that I have to cut them short as you can without hurting yourself and then file with a nail filer to shorten even more. Filing allows you to continue shortening the nails without hurting yourself. Donāt overdo it though.
A glass nail filer is also nice in filing it smooth and quick.
This has helped me a lot.