Nails
Jun. 9, 2024
I bought my guitar at 42, but I gave up playing it after a few years. The reason was that my nails were often cracked.
Firstly, using a nail clipper instead of a file was a bad idea. And I did DIY, gardening and housework. After them, just when I was ready to play the guitar, I found my nails had cracked. If left it untreated, the crack will get deeper, so I had to trim the nail and couldn’t play the guitar for a few days. It happened so often that I no longer wanted to continue playing the guitar.
When I was 54, I took out my guitar again. Because I had sprained my knee while skiing and couldn’t do outdoor activities for a few months.
The strings were still set as before, so I could play the guitar right away. Playing it, Oh what a pleasure! Why had I stopped playing? I decided to try it again with sincerity.
In order to continue playing guitar, I thought I should take care of my nails. I bought a nail file and decided to maintain my nails every two days. And I tried to be careful in daily life not to crash my nails. As a result, my nails rarely cracked as they used to.
But that’s probably not the only reason my nails don’t crack. Apparently, as we get older, our nails get stronger. When I clip my old father’s nails, I was surprised to find his nails were very thick and hard.
There are many good things about getting older. I have become clever enough to use the nail file 🙂 and my nails get stronger. If you have given up on your guitar because of nail problems, please don’t throw away the guitar, and keep the strings set. Your nails will become stronger in time.