No nails fingerstyle "brushing" noise

[SprintBob]

I'm fairly committed to playing fingerstyle sans nails because my lifestyle would make it very difficult to maintain fingerstyle length nails. I'm an active sailor and my hands take a beating on the water. I'm also a manufacturer's rep for industrial equipment and long nails on one hand would look kind of weird to my customers!

That said, I'm committed to bare fingerstyle. I have to accept the lower volume and softer tone but that's OK. I do believe the more I play the more the tips of my right hand toughen and the sound will brighten. I have a Yamaha THR tabletop amp that I play through at times when I want to hear my playing at a higher volume (or also when I want to play along with a song I am learning). When I do this, it brings out what I would call the sound of my bare fingers "brushing" the strings that I really do not hear when I play unplugged. I think my technique is not too bad but my right hand fingers do tend to engage the strings more towards the top of the finger pad just below the finger tip. I think this is the source of the brushing noise.

Would this be considered typical and I should just accept it or do I need to adjust my technique? I am hoping to get started with a new teacher within the next month so I hope his input will help me address this also.

Look forward to the great feedback I always get here!

[PointBlank]

I hear what your saying. I work in construction and have the same finger nail limitations.

I have a lot more complex rhythmic control playing without a pick. So I love the overall sound even thou it is less volume.

All I can say is, have you tried Elixir Nanowebs yet? I think they help the noise factor quite a bit and the tone is very useable. I use them for finger style amplified guitar.

Plus I think we all work on are techniques until we're dead.

[DaveKell]

I have a good friend who is a successful Nashville songwriter and blues artist. He plays guitar fingerstyle without nails. I remember well asking him once long ago how he got such volume playing with bare fingertips. He held his hand out in front of me and said "check out these bulldog callouses I got doing it". Sure enough there was a bump that looked like a wart on each fingertip and they were rock hard. I have tried to develop them myself but came to the conclusion that too would require the 10,000 hour concept to master.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by SprintBob

…Would this be considered typical and I should just accept it or do I need to adjust my technique? I am hoping to get started with a new teacher within the next month so I hope his input will help me address this also.

Look forward to the great feedback I always get here!

Hi SB...

If I was getting that particular noise through an amp, I'd hunt for the frequency that is exacerbating the brushing and dial the tone control back...Without having you sit in the room with me and playing for me through the amp there is little chance of solving it other than general suggestions.

I've played all-flesh for over 50 years, and don't have hardness on my finger tips, or even discernible callus, but I can play for hours without pain, have a wide dynamic range between softest/loudest, and I do not get a brushing flesh sound from amps (or acoustically in the room).

My own experience is I can keep up volume-wise with people who use picks, unless I encounter a player who just wails away with medium-heavy strings. Then regular flat-pickers cannot keep up either.

I have chosen guitars which are on the resonant side, which are highly responsive instruments. These don't present me with less volume nor articulation than a nail player or a pick player. I do tend to produce a warmer tone, and very full tone.

I also strum downward with the backs of the nails of fingers 2-3, and up with the edge of the thumb nail. I'm a thumb-n-3 finger player. When I strum, the volume is as loud as somebody playing with a flat-pick.

I prefer Elixir Nano Phosphor Bronze strings (.012 or .011 depending on the guitar), for tone, not lack of string noise reasons.

Hope you find the answers which fit your needs.

[TBman]

I changed my "attack" of my right hand by trying to emulate the pro in the video below. Doing this has really helped my tone (I think so anyway). I do a combination of palm muting and sort of pulling up/"popping" the strings instead of a "stroke."