Transition to playing without nails.

[Greg Adams]

Hello everyone,

I've been playing more classic banjo in recent years, but have gone back and forth as to how much fingernail I want to use with my right hand technique. I have formal training as a classical guitarist from my undergraduate studies (2001). Until recently, I have maintained the combination flesh/nail from this training as part of my finger-style technique with classic banjo. 

As part of my attempt to more deeply explore other aspects of period performance practice, lately, I've been experimenting with using less and less nail. As part of this decreased use of fingernail, I am increasingly pleased with my right hand's economy-of-motion, but less and less satisfied with tone quality. 

MY QUESTIONS ARE THESE...for those of you who play classic banjo without fingernails, 

1) how did you reconcile the tonal difference of flesh/nail vs. flesh?

2) did you find that your fingers eventually compensated to find a balanced tone?

3) did you find your fingertip (without fingernails) became calloused in a way that was conducive to a well-rounded, pleasant tone?

Any advice, success stories, etc., will be welcomed by me.

Thank you,

Greg

[Jody Stecher]

Greg, I think some of your dissatisfactions may be addressed and fixed through small changes of banjo setup. Have you tried various bridges, types of heads, and string gauges or types? To answer your questions: Although I'll pick the occasional note Down with my index and/or middle fingernail as in the clawhammer technique I use no nail for upstrokes in classic playing. On all string instruments my thumb stroke is always Pad Only. Pad for rest stroke and free stroke both. Upstrokes with fingers are always tips and pads, no nail at all, be it guitar or banjo, gut, nylon, or metal. However I occasionally use the nails of my Left hand to stop the strings on fretless banjo. My fingertips on the right hand are pretty leathery though not as hard as on the left. As for tonal differences, I *like* these differences so for me there's nothing to reconcile. That's one reason I like zither banjo so much with its string set of gut, steel, and copper on silk. I know players who use an artificial nail for the index finger and natural nail for the middle finger. They do this to maximize the tonal difference. I'll bring out tonal contrast by contacting the string at various points between the bridge and where the pot meets the neck and also sometimes over the fingerboard for a note or two. I've tried plastic fingerpicks on nylon strings and on some banjos it's a pretty good sound and on others there's too much click. Steel fingerpicks can sound good sometimes too. Everything depends on matching banjo, string, bridge, head material and tightness etc with the hands and mind of the individual player. Which brings me back to my idea that maybe an adjustment in setup might at least partially solve your problems.

[Greg Adams]

Thank you, Jody and Rob, for responding to my query.

As per your advice, I'll keep working with my nail-less playing and see if I can get consistent and pleasing results. Yesterday was the first time (in many years) where I played without using in any fingernails. I continued to practice for a little while last night and found myself happier with the results, but it was only after my fingers were warmed up and moving smoothly (i.e., without resistance) against the strings. This aligns with Rob's comments about fingertip orientation to the strings. As Jody suggests, I have been working with set-up (head tension, string gage, bridge material, height, and thickness, etc.) and had a good set up of flesh/nail. We'll see if I maintain that with my new approach of playing without nails.

What I like about playing this way, so far, is that I can dig into the strings much more expressively than when I am using the combination of flesh/nail (that's just me and my own idiosyncrasies as a player). We'll see what happens. I'll keep you posted. Perhaps I'll youtube myself on of the the tunes I'm adding into my repertoire.

Thanks for the support!
Greg

[Jody Stecher]

or just post videos here and you'll be assured of a supportive response. Youtube can be a minefield.

Greg Adams said:

Perhaps I'll youtube myself on of the the tunes I'm adding into my repertoire.

Thanks for the support!
Greg

[James Tyler]

Greg, as a guitarist switching over to flesh playing on the banjo, you might find the words of a famous guitarist of the past quite interesting: Fernando Sor published his Method in Paris in 1830 and gives quite detailed technichal information. About the nails versus flesh controversy he says, in the Merrick translation of 1832, "Never in my life have I heard a guitarist whose playing was supportable, if he played with the nails. The nails can produce but very few gradations on the quality of the sound..."

Of course modern guitarists from the age of Segovia and later have edited out Sor's information in favor of their own bias in technique.

I am biased toward flesh playing because I've been a professional lutenist for over 48 years, and in the lute world it is hard to find anyone who favors nails. Flesh playing does, indeed, offer many subtle tone possibilities as well as power and clarity. As a former member of the Julian Bream Consort, I often played lute duets with Julian, who because he is primarily a guitarist, plays on the lute with nails. In concerts, however, listeners never seemed to percieve any imbalance even though our styles were so different.

Zither banjo players, with the instrument's partially steel stringing, seemed to favor, on the other hand, playing with nails.

I think you shouldn't be so concerned about the nail versus flesh issue; just do what works best for your own playing.