Tárrega - Adelita (with no nails!!!) 

Thank you very much for listening!

Thank you for listening!

I can’t say that I have experienced that. The sound can be lovely, but so can the sound of playing with nails. They’re just a little different, like two flavors of ice cream. Right now, I am really missing my nails, just because I have played with them for so many years, and the technique comes much more naturally to me.

Yes, a lot of Sor’s music can be played without the ring finger. As for the nails issue, I am still very undecided and uncommitted. I much prefer playing the lute without nails. As for the guitar, I love both sounds, but nail technique is much easier for me, and I might go back to it just to make playing more enjoyable again.

Thank you so much for listening and for the helpful tips, which I will play around with. At first, I did try placing the pinky down on the fingerboard to bring the fingers under the strings more, and for some stability. I liked that, but it severely limited my ability to use the ring finger, so I have since brought my hand back up. Maybe I need to keep adjusting the hand position. Hopefully I'll figure out a good solution, but I suspect it will take time.

Thank you, Andre!

Yes, I have come over to the dark side! We'll see how long I can last. Right now, my index and middle fingers do not get a very pleasant sound, so I am hoping that somehow improves. Got any magic pills or potions to make that happen? 🤞

@@ericphillips7057 Cool! Rob MacKillop has a bunch of tips for the transition, but I assume you already know about that? I think the biggest factor is time. Everybody adjust differently but I don't know of anyone who just cut their nails off and immediately sounds good lol. For me, my indice sounded good first, followed by my anular (months later?), and then my medio is still sort of a work in progress (9 years later haha). I'm more or less happy with its sound, though. And I recall that I had the same struggle with nails also - but my problem finger with nails was anular not medio.

@@tateharmann3057 Thanks, Tate. And yes, I have read and listened to Rob Mackillop's material on the topic. Looking at my fingers from the front, I have a rather large arc of flesh above my trimmed nail on my ring finger, but not so much on my index or middle. In fact, on my index, the completely trimmed-down nail is even with the flesh behind it. I'm wondering if that might be part of my difficulty getting a good sound with the flesh of those fingers, but I'm not sure. And if that is the problem, I have no idea how to improve it. Like you said, though, maybe it's just a matter of some more time. I really miss being able to get a relatively good sound without so much thought and effort, though.

@@ericphillips7057 Hmm that's interesting - I've got fairly consistent pads and nail-beds across my fingers. I'm sure you'll find a way to make it work :) Experiment with the angle of attack as well. That was a big breakthrough for me as initially I was keeping my same angle of attack as when I played with nails but it didn't work without them. And I know exactly what you mean when you say you miss getting great tone with minimal effort. It will eventually balance out. Let me put it this way: now when I try to play WITH nails the sound is awful (and I have tried more than once). It was exactly the opposite when I first cut my nails off. I know I could also get back to nail playing if I gave it the proper amount of time and care - I just don't have much desire to. Give it time - the force will get back in balance LOL

Thank you, Matteo! I still do not feel comfortable playing this way. I imagine that would take a while, if I decide to leave my nails off.

@@ericphillips7057 💪🏻💪🏻🙏🏻👍🏻

Thank you, Tobias!

I have heard that people like a string with more texture when playing without nails. Right now, I have no intention of changing my strings, and given the cost of gut strings I don’t see myself ever going that route. As for your other question, I’m not sure what to say. I have done a few online master classes in recent years, and in person master classes many decades ago when I was in college. But my music making is still just a serious hobby, and not my profession, and I can’t imagine changing careers at my age.

@@ericphillips7057 Thanks, Eric, your response gives me hope. Like you, I consider myself a serious hobbyist and want to balance it around my current career. I recently went to a guitar festival and it was different than others I previously went to. It seemed there was a good deal of pressure for everyone to play a luthier made guitar. I explained to folks that I couldn’t justify $5k and up for a guitar when I already have 3 classical guitars that I think sound good and are comfortable for me to play. In that instance, I thought of you, because I remembered you said you’d played the same guitar for years. And guess what? It sounds great to me and others. I did a masterclass with a well-known guitarist and it didn’t go as well as previous masterclasses. I think she didn’t like my answer when I said I was a hobbyist and didn’t want to invest the time in learning advanced pieces, only quick 1 minute, 1 page pieces so I could have content to post. She was also shocked that I said I had no interest in practicing scales, because I’d rather invest my time in learning pieces. That kind of gatekeeping is holding many people back, or causes people to quit the classical guitar.

Thank you, Juan. I had heard that about Tarrega. His music sounds quite good with the sound of no nails technique.

Thank you, I have. I was experimenting without nails for a few weeks, but I have since grown my nails back.