Can Pianists Have Nice Nails?

 

You may think this is a trivial subject, but you will see that it is not.

Even if you are male and have no interest in having longer nails, read on.

When I was a young piano student, my teachers always insisted that I keep my nails trimmed very short, almost no visible white part at all. As a teenager, I was envious of my friends who had longer, lovely manicured nails. If I dared to let them grow a bit, I would get a lecture from my teacher. Alas....

But the reason for needing to have your nails very short is a bogus one. It stems from the idea that you must curve your fingers when you play. Some books say to curve your fingers as if holding a tennis ball. With this curvature, you end up playing on the tips of your fingers. If the nails protrude past the finger at all, they will produce a clicking sound on the keys.

This idea of curved fingers is another example of what I call "300-year-old ideas." It originated with the harpsichord. The harpsichord has a completely different action than the piano. Even then, the idea really had no basis in reality, but they believed it was required to achieve the right sound. And so the idea persisted right up until today, where most teachers will still tell you to curve your fingers.

If your fingers are curved, how can you play an octave or larger? Or a large chord with several notes? With fingers curved you simply cannot open your hand enough to play those. Try it and you'll see. When the idea first arose, with the harpsichord, there simply were no pieces that had the big chords of Chopin, Brahms and Rachmaninoff.

Over-curving the fingers also makes the whole hand tighter and less flexible. We want our hands to be supple and elastic, not muscle-bound and tight. (Once again, another 300-year-old idea says you must build the strength of the fingers, which is not true.)

What we should be doing is playing with the natural curvature of our own hands, which varies between individuals. Turn your hand prone (upside down) on your lap in a relaxed way. Then just turn it over and place your hand on the keys; that is your natural curvature. No one has a completely flat hand, and almost no one has a very curved hand. With a natural curvature, you end up playing on the pads of the finger (where your fingerprint is). 

Generally speaking, you can't play well with very flat fingers. This is because they can't transfer the power of the arm to the keys in this position. However, even though I am a petite woman, I can reach a tenth when I let my hand open up naturally, without stretching, and my hand will be practicially flat. But for someone whose hands are that way naturally, that is how they will play. I recommend you watch some videos of the late great Vladimir Horowitz, who was known for his technical prowess. His hands are practically flat. This obviously was his natural curvature. In fact, you'll see that most professional pianists' fingers are not excessively curved. If your teacher insists you curve your fingers, ask him/her how Horowitz managed to have a huge technigue without curving.

Now that you are playing on the pads of the last joint of the finger, there is no problem for the nails to be longer. Of course, there is a limit. If they are like talons, they are going to bump into the keys and the fallboard, and you will end up with a lot of broken nails.

I keep my nails slightly longer, and I get a manicure regularly. My nails don't "click" nor do they chip or break, and I play many difficult pieces.

Once again, beware of 300-year-old ideas. They don't stand up to scrutiny.