Classical Guitar Fingernails

“Why do you have long fingernails on your right hand?” I’ve heard this so many times. I explain that I use them to play guitar. Then I get puzzled looks. Often, I hear some variant of “Haven’t you ever heard of a pick?” On a more positive note, one guy said, “You alter your body for the sake of your art. That’s cool!” I’m not sure if filing your fingernails counts as body alteration, but hey, I’m glad he thinks it’s cool.

Even among those of us who play classical guitar, a lot of questions arise about right-hand fingernails. Let’s talk about some of them.

Why do classical guitarists use fingernails? When plucking the strings with your fingers, the fingernail provides additional clarity of tone. The fingernails function as built-in fingerpicks. The tone is optimized by placing the string between the nail and the flesh of the fingertip.

Do you have to use fingernails to play classical guitar? Nope. There has been a lot of debate through the history of classical guitar about whether it’s necessary to use nails. There are current players, especially those who also play lute and baroque guitar like Brandon Acker and Rob McKillop, who advocate for playing classical guitar without nails. But many top classical guitarists like Ana Vidovic and Pepe Romero and David Russell use nails. If you’re a classical guitar lover, you can choose to use nails or not.

If you’re going to use nails, how do you prepare the nails for playing classical guitar? Focus on three elements: length, shape, and smoothness.

Length – It works well to have the nails of i,m,a (index, middle, and ring fingers) about 1/16 of an inch past the end of the fingertip. The nail of p (thumb) can be a little longer, about 1/8 inch past the end of the fingertip.

Shape – The shape I like best is a rounded ramp, with the ramp lowest on the thumb side of the hand and sloping up toward the pinky finger. File a flat ramp on the end of the nail and round the corners. Then file a flat ramp on the underside of the nail, where the string will spend most of its time, and round the corners again. Test the nail on the string to see if the plucking motion works effectively. If not, tweak the nail shape as needed.

Smoothness – Use sandpaper to smooth the surface of the fingernail. You want to remove any roughness from the end of the fingernail as well as from the underneath side, where the string will contact the nail. Use 500 grain per square inch sandpaper. You can check the smoothness with a left-hand fingernail.

What if you break a nail? If there is still some nail to work with, you can file it to the best of your ability. If the nail is too short to use, you can either play with the fingertip or use an artificial nail for a while.

What if you have weak nails? You can use nail hardeners and take vitamin supplements to strengthen your nails. If that fails, you can either play with fingertips or use artificial nails.

Regardless whether you use nails in your playing, keep making music!

What questions do you have about using fingernails for classical guitar playing?