Fingernails

[nolady]

Does anyone use their fingernails to pick?

I'm growing my right hand ones longer by applying Hard as Nails and wonder if anyone here has used that product. My nails aren't breaking at all, but they seem to growing much more slowly

Yes this is a serious question, crazy as it seems #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[mandroid]

No, gave up on classical guitar before it ever mattered.

a friend in town does[classical guitar] and performs in a duet [with his wife on violin,]
he goes for the hard acrylic glued on ones.

more Jello !

and mind the finish , you do have a pickguard /fingerrest on the mandolin ?
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[nolady]

Yes, pickguard on my baby.

Maybe I can be a little more specific. My fingernails used to grow VERY fast, but were always breaking.
Now that I use Hard as Nails, they grow reeeaaallll # sllooooowwly. They aren't long enough yet to use to pick.
Wonder if anyone else experienced this

As for acrylic nails, - #I'm not a girly girl manicure kind of person at all, but I appreciate the suggestion. #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Stephanie Reiser]

Since I finger-pick guitar quite a bit, I tried finger-picking the mandolin, too. It was okay, and I think some people do this. but I can flat-pick probably just as well.
But your post reminded me of my classical guitar days, grimacing over a broken nail, and what to do. And long nails seem odd to me as I am not a girly girl either.
Now on guitar I sometimes add a thumbpick, but mandolin is strictly with the flatpick.

[mikeyes]

I suspect you can get some interesting musical variations by fingerpicking (and this is not a new technique to the mandolin) but it seems that you will not get the best sound from the instrument. Double course strings on a carved top instrument require a much higher level of energy to fully engage the strings. That's why thick picks and down strokes sound so good on the instrument. I suspect that you will not be able to provide enough power to a mandolin (even a flat topped one with light strings) to fully exploit the sonic possibilities.

Even if you have thick fingernails you will not have the leverage or speed needed to sound really good.

BTW, what is in Hard As Nails?

[AlanN]

Don't tell that to Kenny Hall. Although, his index fingernail is really like a pick.

[Eugene]

I play classical guitar as much as anything. I also play a baroque era incarnation of mandolin fingerstyle (the 6-course instrument by Luciano Faria on this eye-candy page (http://www.mandolincafe.com/archives/builders/early.html) is mine), although I favor more flesh than nail on it.

As alluded, finger picking a modern steel-strung mandolin isn't likely to generate much acoustic volume. However, you can play as fast and sound as good as you care to if finger picking something designed to generate volume and sound good finger picked.

I now keep mine strongly tapered down on the attack side (if you're familiar with classical guitar's pedagogical literature, similar to the Scott Tennant's recommendation in Pumping Nylon). This allows me to focus much more attack from the flesh on early lute-like strings (including my wee gut-strung mandolino) and more nail for modern guitar.

I only find acrylics useful for emergency repair, but then I glue custom-cut bits under the nail. If you'd care for details of my repair procedure, I'm happy to post them. Just ask.

My nails were relatively brittle, and I would crack them with frequency. I tried all manner of brush-on hardeners to no useful effect. What I finally did find useful was regular buffing with multi-stage cosmetic nail buffers. This made them more pliable and perhaps even more impervious to the effects of moisture and humidity.

[billkilpatrick]

i don't think it will prove to be much more than a novelty but if you're going for that sound and your nails aren't up to the task, you might have a look at these:

http://www.alaskapik.com/

... another possibility is to play with extra light strings.

[Eugene]

I don't like Alaska Piks, at least not for "classical" use on nylon/gut. Their feel is rather different than that of the combined flesh-nail stroke.

[nolady]

Hard as Nails ingredients
Butyl Acetate; Ethyl Acetate; Nitrocellulose; Isopropyl Alcohol; Tosylamide/Formaldehyde Resin; Dibutyl Phthalate; N-Butyl Alcohol; Camphor; Benzophenone-1; D&C Violet No. 2

Formalehyde? Sheesh, maybe my nails have been embalmed

[JGWoods]

Hard as Nails ingredients
Butyl Acetate; Ethyl Acetate; Nitrocellulose; Isopropyl Alcohol; Tosylamide/Formaldehyde Resin; Dibutyl Phthalate; N-Butyl Alcohol; Camphor; Benzophenone-1; D&C Violet No. 2

Formalehyde? Sheesh, maybe my nails have been embalmed
formaldehyde is listed as a carcinogen by NTP and IARC

[JeffD]

I can't imagine tremolo using finger nails. Yikes!

[nolady]

"Formalehyde? #Sheesh, maybe my nails have been embalmed. -


formaldehyde is listed as a carcinogen by NTP and IARC "


that would explain the large bumps growing on my palms # http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[Eugene]

I can't imagine tremolo using finger nails. Yikes!
Tremolo using fingernails is relatively easy; it typically just takes a slightly different format. It's usually executed by striking the strings in rapid succession with the thumb (p), ring (a), middle (m), then index (i) fingers. There was a pre-Segovian American "classical" guitarist named William Foden (1860-1947) who was particularly celebrated for his tremolo. His 2-volume guitar method culminates in an outline of his varied approach to tremolo: dedillo (i.e., tremolo by "wagging" a finger back and forth, typically i) and multi-finger harmonized dedillo, "plectrum-style" tremolo with the back of the nail of i braced with the thumb, typical "three-finger" tremolo of p-i-m-a (Foden's default for thumb on the bass followed by three fingers on the melody) or p-a-m-i, unaccompanied "four-finger" tremolo of p-i-m-a all on the melody, "three-finger" tremolo to sound both bass and tremolo on the beat as p/i-m-a-m, and more.

[mandroid]

Dang with that ingredients list, i'd want to be in another room from my hand,
or in a Haz Mat suit !

And I thought fibreglass hand layup used noxious chemicals..

add to prior post, It would be rather difficult to tremolo,
with fingernails, other than rather quietly,
[though I have seen Radim Zinkle's Duo style technique,
he tremolos with the right ring finger, a high drone, done with a plastic fingerpick, an extension over what would be a fingernail]
(opposite side than normal for up stroke only fingerpicking)

Blind mandolin player Kenny Hall held his bowl back straight up on his left thigh, while he played with his index fingernail.

none of the music played with these players using these techniques can be said to be Bluegrass in style.
Radim's were classical-esque, Kenny , 'oldtimey'

as far as the adding a false fingernail, they dont have to get all those colors and micropaintings,
( see noxious chemicals precautions above)

in example [Guys] the extensions are rather colorless tools.

I believe there is a source for nail extensions specifically made for the purpose of guitar playing.

Steel string finger style British guitarist John Renbourn
has, long ago,
adopted artificial nails for his playing technique also.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/coffee.gif

[Eugene]

[though I have seen Radim Zinkle's Duo style technique,
he tremolos with the right ring finger, a high drone, done with a plastic fingerpick, an extension over what would be a fingernail]
This is a good description for Radim's quirky technique, but I don't believe he calls what he does "duo style" (at least he didn't last I saw him demonstrate it nor in discussion with him afterwards: granted it's been a few years). That term is usually applied to a plectrum technique of the classical camp. (Radim's is more similar to a dedillo technique exploited to great effect by guitarist Kazuhito Yama####a.) Radim also does this on a mandolin built for nylon.

[billkilpatrick]

he's using finger picks but you might have a listen (and look) here:

http://www.folkofthewood.com/page524.htm

http://www.folkofthewood.com/page554.htm

... and many others, using a variety of mid-missouri instruments.

[Paul Kotapish]

Kenny Hall always picks a taterbug (sitting upright on his knee) with the long nail of his index finger (I think it's his index, could be the middle one). He can do amazing things with that nail--rapid runs, triplets, pretty much anything.

Scottish guitarist Tony McManus gets an amazing sound out his thumbnail. He plays pretty delicately, but with real authority, and his triplets and right-hand ornaments are amazing. Last time I saw him play it looked like he was using just the outside edge of the nail (parallel to the length of the thumb) rather than the tip of it.

I think both of them use natural nails.

A lot of the fingerstyle guitarists I know have switched back to natural nails--reinforced with superglue on occasion.

[JeffD]

Wow, more nail players that I would have thought.

The mandolin always seems a little more diverse than I think - every summary of mandolin styles is inadequate!

[James P]

Sometimes I'll comp by fingerpicking, mostly on slow samba stuff. #Didn't even know I was doing it 'til the fiddle player called me on it. #

But what Radim Zenkl can do just blows my mind. #
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiJunO9WeHU

[Red Henry]

Frank Wakefield is a virtuoso at using two fingernails along with the flatpick, to integrate chords with his lead work. For example, for many years he's done a "chord chorus" in New Camptown Races that's mighty pretty.

Red.

[foldedpath]

Sometimes I'll comp by fingerpicking, mostly on slow samba stuff. Didn't even know I was doing it 'til the fiddle player called me on it.

But what Radim Zenkl can do just blows my mind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiJunO9WeHU

He's playing his signature model Breedlove mandola there; note the four strings instead of double course. It has a humbucker pickup combined with a saddle pickup, which gets around the volume issues with fingerstyle mandolin. Here's another great clip where he's playing a beautiful chord melody piece (turn it up, it's low volume):

Radim Zenkl fingerstyle mandola (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l63FWu8d-rQ&mode=related&search=)

[bradeinhorn]

Frank Wakefield is a virtuoso at using two fingernails along with the flatpick, to integrate chords with his lead work. For example, for many years he's done a "chord chorus" in New Camptown Races that's mighty pretty.

Red.
was just about to say - i want to grow out the nail on my middle finger to do that chime section in new camptown races.