Classical Guitar Myths DEBUNKED!

Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Why are you saying you don't have nails when we can see them at :38?
I go back and forth between playing with and without nails. In this video, I have no nail. At :38, and in the thumbnail, I am showing a clip of when I had long nails from a past video. The idea here was to show those who might not be familiar what long nails for guitar look like.

2. Isn't Tárrega a bad example of no-nail proponents because he only got rid of nails because of a disease?
It seems probably that he did lose his nails due to illness. However, after losing them and developing a no nail technique, he then went on to praise the sound and teach it to his students as an ideal.

CORRECTION: It's been pointed out to me that the image I used of a Lautenwerk might not be correct.

Really interesting! I am not a classical guitarist; I only studied classical guitar for one year when I was 15 years old. During a recital I remember tuning the guitar higher because it sounded better and it was easier to perform the piece without nails (a daily struggle with my teacher). At the end of the concert the school director (violinist) gave me a bollocking for my tuning and long hair. I remember I was wearing a Van Halen t-shirt and she didn't say anything maybe because she thought he was a painter from Belgium.
Anyway I always played without nails on the electric and acoustic then because of a health problem I had to use them. I like both choices because they create very different sound situations!

There aren't actually any muscles in your fingers. Those grip devices are supposed to strengthen the muscles in the palm of your hand that make the fingers move.

"good quality practice" OR practice makes perfect, ( NO ) Perfect practice makes perfect. In other words, if you practice it wrong several times you have reinforced "IT" incorrectly. However, playing something many times exactly correctly is preferred. It has been said/stated that there was a organ teacher who made her students do "hundreds" in other words you had to it an exercise 100 time correct to prove you knew that etude correctly! My teacher Thomas Bacon said, 3x correct no mistakes THEN add +1 on the metronome (EX: 40 to 41) repeat 3X correct in a row no mistakes +1 on the metronome.

Not being a player, He arouses the interest to enjoy those who can.

I have Lisa Simpson fingers and I play on a 3/4 size guitar

Where can i find that arrangement of ashokan farewell that was played at the beginning?

One fun fact about hands is that hand are able to change in size an form by the way they get used if you for example look at the hands of a bricklayer and compare them to a the hands of a tailor they will look pretty different even if these two are siblings

Try Bach: Allegro assai from 3rd violin Sonata on a standard classical guitar with small hands. No way your left hand can do it if it's small. So buy smaller guitar :)

My first guitar teacher criticized the condition of my nails. I told him "Dude, I work construction- I'm lucky to have all my fingers!"

"I don't play with nails" * shows fingers with long nails ?!

What a helpful video! And both your voice and guitar always sound soo good in these!.. I'm only starting to learn classical guitar, but I'd love to record beautiful music like you in the future. Could you share what mic you're using here? Pretty please?

I'm new to this word and on how to play. So to speak I'm trying to learn how many ways to walk before I play. But I don't wish to play like a robot so to speak

The main point of contention I have is in regard to nails. Yes you can play without nails, but to get a full, reasonably audible sound from a classical guitar, I think it is best to have at least enough nail (and properly shaped)to where your finger tip and nail are striking the string together. If the nails are too long this is just as bad as not having any- there is a fine line. It also has to do with economy of motion, not just for the picking hand but the fretting hand as well. One of the most challenging things for me to accomplish was to use enough picking force without being overbearing with the fretting technique. Nails allowed me to adjust this closer to an optimum efficiency. I struggled with maintaining my nails for many years and I feel like it hinder my progress. I have played with acrylics for many years now and could not imagine going back.

His has his nails grown out, just look at them.

Thank you. So many of us do other things that conflict with having long nails. Gardening, woodworking, cooking, you name it. Long nails are unhygienic and difficult to keep clean. And I love the subtlety of sound that a guitar that is played with the fingers give. Maybe nails came into use for the reason you mention regarding loudness. You can make the guitar sound louder. But not nicer.

Great video! I've tried playing without nails a couple of times, but I've struggled to produce enough sound. I wonder if it's more about technique or if the quality of my guitar plays a role too. Any advice or insights from you or other viewers would be incredibly helpful! Thanks!

But my guitar is not loud enough 😢

I have heard Bream play 3 differed guitars,I asked him what strings, Augustine Reds, no fancy carbon high tensions. Mike Pardington is a master at phrasing and playing with delicate and low volume tones, often a mix of warm and dry tones. Every time the audience melts into their seats. Some loud guitars have very few words, every note is the same vowel sound. I have compared a very expensive guitar to my Oribe. The glaring difference was the language possibilities, the other the string clank of the pluck on the loud guitar increased at a greater ratio than the actual volume from the loud guitar. No, my one of kind Oribe is NOT for sale.

Thank you for posting this video Brandon.. You brought up some very good points. Very helpful. Much appreciated.

432hz, you can thank me later.

Whats the name of the intro song?

I’m a longtime electric guitar player who just got my first nylon string guitar, and I’m really excited to learn some softer, mellow things to play when I’m alone late at night. Thanks for the lesson and encouragement. Nice channel!

As a pianist who has wanted to pick up classical guitar it’s a relief to know that you don’t need nails. I keep mine nonexistent.

could we get a hair tutorial?

Cool, but you have a little bit of nail.

The fingers and thumbs contain no muscles. Sometimes it is anatomy - my pinkies are at least a quarter of an inch short of reaching the third joint on my ring fingers. This makes them near useless. That's my excuse!
We can all find an excuse for being a lousy guitarist, but Django didn't do too badly with two fingers.

The third point you make is so true for almost all instruments and is often applied to most hobbies. A weightlifter sucks at squats it's "because I have long femurs."

This information absolutely applies to piano. I practiced a Debussy piece wrong for years. It’s still not right. Break the music down and learn each part perfectly.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, for your comments about how to practice! That is a huge MYTH that I challenged my students and their parents about. Please, do not practice mistakes 🙄 Much harder to fix ingrained bad habits than to play slow, deliberate, and accurate. There is a very old military typing course that was used that had you type one letter slow and meticulous - then take a break, do the same thing slowly adding one more letter with long breaks in-between... magically with seemingly no effort turning you into a decent typist. Careful correct practice brings accomplished musicians. ❤ Thanks for this video!

Myth N+1 -- You can't play left-handed.

If the instrument is also mirrored, you can indeed play left-handed, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.

There is no muscles in fingers. Therefore you can’t use more or less finger muscles. The muscles moving the fingers are in the forearm.

I have very fleshy fingers and I find fingerstyle hard to play on nylon. In particular tremolo. I can't get the lead to be louder than the base.
I hate growing nails though so I'm trying to get used to fingerpicks. It's an endless battle.

So wonderful to hear and see your opinion! Especially delighted that you’ve added a historical perspective.I’ve never played with nails or a pick. I pluck, I like the way the strings feel on my fingertips, both nylon and steel. I use my thumb for plucking bass line. Picks always seemed to slow me down. 🙌No nails makes it have a more woodsy, natural mellow sound. But, it is how I play. I’m glad to hear that it is appreciated by some of the masters. Thank you🫶this is what was looking for. I still like a tuning fork😊

New in guitar world but the finger strength gadgets are not only for guitar. they do work and help you in climbing/bouldering. Also stronger doesnt mean more muscular, fingers relay on tendons and muscles that are not in the palm. Stronger fingers cant hurt either.

I treat patients, especially for shoulder and arm problems, and I cannot have nails, otherwise I have to buy too many bandages.
Sorry to hear about your injury, you might want to see my video about exercises and self-treatments for the low back, as well as the shoulder and hands. It's for pianists, and humanists.
Oh My Aching Bach

You can only experiment with the hertz if you play alone so it's very specific to do it, once you involve other musicians and their instruments it's not really a viable thing to do.

Regarding Myth No. 7...my friend used to say, "PERFECT practice makes perfect." Also, "I never practice because I might practice WRONG!"

FUN FACT: fingers DO NOT have ANY MUSCLES

"i dont have fingernails"?
dude, you literally have long fingernails, just not the giant claws that some people believe are necessary. It's impossible to play classical without nails that are at least like yours.

It's something I really hate about it, since any kind of nail length above the fingers annoys me and is unhygenic, but I have to maintain at least your length of nails to be able to play properly.

you can get more of that nail sound by playing with callouses, I've built up my right hand callouses by practicing on contra bass guitar. I don't do nails, I bite them off.

You are a good and reasonable guy. I know players / teachers like you but too few, and the guitar world would be better off with a lot more like you. I would add only one thing for people here but it's not directly guitar related... So - maybe - myth number 8? :-) you need a certain instrument for certain types of music. I say no! Maybe the world needs a classical Harmonica player or a rock Flutist. Wait, that already happen. But we need more! LOL

let me save you 12 minutes of your life. It depends on the sound your are looking for.

Agreed!

Yes, you need nails to achieve varying picking dynamics.