Fingernail Care
Because the ’ukulele is not an instrument that screams to be played with a pick, and playing with just the flesh of your fingers is kind of dull, a lot of players grow their fingernails out and pick with them. Playing can be quite hard on the fingernails though, and a lot of people have a hard time keeping their nails in good shape. You can improve the quality of your nails by trying some simple things.
- First of all, drink more water. If your cells are all dried up they can’t do as good a job of making new fingernails.
- File your fingernails with an emery board. Metal and sapphire/diamond files just eat the edges up leaving you with chips and a nail that will eventually peel off. I highly recommend a file from 95 and Sunny. They are made of glass and never wear out.
- Just because you grow your fingernails out doesn’t mean that they have to be obnoxiously long. The longer the nail, the more likely you will rip it off. Keep your nails long enough to do their job, but don’t just let them go crazy.
- I don’t use it, but a lot of people swear that gelatin makes their fingernails stronger.
- Here is how I file my nails:
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Good points. On the other hand, for those, such as myself, whose fingernails bend the wrong way when grown long enough to pick or are too thin and easily damaged, there is another choice. Regular picks, including finger and thumb picks, are little like actual fingernails; but Alaska picks (http://www.alaskapik.com/) are close to replicating the fingernail experience. They fare finger picks, but the actual picking part fits under a short fingernail. They are about $2 each. Independent music stores focusing on folk and acoustic stringed instruments (such as my local Gryphon Stringed Instruments on the mainland in Silicon Valley – http://www.gryphonstrings.com) tend to have these.
I’m a beginner on the ‘uke and don’t use them in Uncle Siachi’s classes, but I’ve been trying them out. It takes a little getting used to the additional distance to the string, but they are comfortable and can be trimmed shorter.
Good advice, but what sort of shape are you supposed to file them to?
Thank you for this! My nails have always been good and strong but I started playing uke in June and since then they are permanently in trouble! Especially because I have never gotten the hang of the plectrum (I can’t grip it hard enough due to rsi) and have this awful habit of strumming with my nails, I know it clicks but it’s the only way I can get real speed and volume. (If anyone has any advice on this am willing to listen lol!) Anyway, strumming using the backs of my nails is really weakening them and causing them to break more which has suddenly become a heartbreaking occurence because it puts on hold what I can and can’t play! (This is kinda funny because I have never been the kind of girl who gets upset by a broken nail before lol!) I will start drinking extra water and take better care filing them and also perhaps get me a couple of those Alaska piks so I can keep playing through breakages.
Thank you again!
There is also keeping them real short-Jakes nails are short except for the thumb nail-and tommy emmanuels nails are short-i have found to do triplets and machine gun style strums ripps my nails apart-so i heep them short-file with a crystal emery board and brush
nail glue on for added strength.