When you go onto YouTube you get offered all sorts of âclick baitâ and must confess I succumb to this one.
It shows some of the techniques that Dolly Parton uses to be able to play with long finger nails. I thought the guitar set up in open running was interesting.
Michael
It seems she (Parton) has a style developed to go along with her appearance.
Thatâs some showmanship right there. Not my cup of tea, but hey, it works for her.
Dolly is a treasure thatâs for sure. I think she has more talent for the guitar than sheâs often given credit for. A lot of that, I think, is that her showmanship in general stands out more. But I think also that being able to find a style that works for her and playing with long nails puts additional limitations on what is possible. She managed that quite well, IMO.
In this article, she does touch on something else she does -
How Dolly Parton Plays Guitar With Long Nails | Womanâs World
She does also chop those nails off when sheâs really getting down to serious songwriting.
Open tunings have been around forever so itâs not unique to Dolly. Joni Mitchel also used open tunings because she had polio when she was nine and didnât have very much hand strength.
Most of Led Zeppelinâs acoustic songs are in open tunings and Celtic music uses them a lot.
First and foremost Dolly is an entertainer and a very good one at that. Where there is a will thereâs a way and she will always find away.
I agree with Nate She is a treasure
I donât. :-D.
Tony @tony
I donât have that problem but would if I suddenly decided to play left handed as I have longish nails on my right hand for fingerstyle!!!
Michael
Itâs a good question.
Wow that is some serious dedication to her style / looks.
Simple, musically and it works perfectly on her music genre. Well done for her talent! I love her music. 
I am glad she can do what she wants, good for her. But I donât understand how anyone manages nails. Even just for fingerstyle or classical play much less the ginormous glue on fashion style she has, and on the fretting hand! I donât even understand how people type with those nails, much less not just ruin them on the strings.
I do not particularly work with my hands much. Home projects and stupid human tricks aside, and I crack, chip and tear any nail that is more than a few millimeters. The zipper on my pants routinely ruined nails. Even playing righty (I am very lefty) I have problems and damage the nails on the right hand all the time. I have been able to keep a slightly longer thumb nail on the right, that one seems tough as nailsđ¤Śđźââď¸.
Even if not prone to breakage, the maintenance! Trying to keep my nails right for classical was a nightmare and lots of work. Then I would break one and it was all for naught. Maybe if I was going for a profession in classical it would have more value.
I play with flesh now, it works great, sounds great. No real maintenance, right and left look the same. All good.