For some reason I really want to paint my fingernails. But of course like most people my nails are very short. Will it look funny?? Any color recommendations that work better with short nails? I'm thinking a pale color to start with, but should it pinkish, or white-ish?? I'm pretty sure red would be distracting when playing!

I paint mine black with silver glitter.
I might be wrong but I think wayne uses more sedate pastel colours.

Pink, I love it!

Are you serious?. I thought that only women painted their nails.

Maybe I'm getting old.

lol.... thank you for posting this!

I've been SO traumatized for the last year and a half, having to cut my nails so short!!!!!!!!

Really, I have historically had really incredible nails. People asked if I had a French manicure, but no, just my own nails.... and now, not even a glimmer of white.

I too have considered doing some polish but worried about getting it on the keys!!!

I'd go with what ever colour suits your fancy. I have bright reds, pinks, coppers and burgundies, ..... I just haven't worn them for a while.

I can't speak for anyone else, but I am female.

The last time I painted my nails was in 1999, a few months before I started piano. Actually, I had painted them for my wedding, a very nice sort of frosted, subtle pink-white color. But back them I had slightly long-ish nails (still short compared to fake nails though).

And let me just add that if any fellow wants to paint his nails, I think that's ok. Just no long nails please! Since I started playing piano, I have come to find very long nails kind of gross, male or female.

Recardo, how totally sexist of you I am surprised.
I started painting my nails many moons ago to hide the dirt underneath them.
I was lucky , I worked respraying cars, in the days of good old cellulose paint, so had access to many good colours, Ideal for nails.
I progressed to ladies clothes just for special occasions, and then for piano playing as I feel that victorian replica corsets are excellent for posture.
I must warn you though they dont come cheap and have to be hand made.
Shoes are difficult, Heels are best, but one simply has to learn how to swivel them correctly on the pointed heel for best use of the Piano pedels.
I prefer a shorter skirt, I can get away with it as my legs have good form, and they allow more ease of movement on the Piano stool.
Theres just so much more choice in ladies attire athan mens don't you think? And of course better colours.

Casinitaly, so you don't think piano-length nails (i.e. very very short) would look bad painted?? I don't think the paInt would get on the keyboard (maybe if you were doing a serious glissando every measure). But I am pretty sure a bright or dark color would be distracting, so red and black are out!

Very good answer Rostosky. I like your British humor. It's really amusing.

How can you say red and black would be out?
Suppose you wore gloves?

Rostosky, you're not being helpful! I am definitely not going to play piano with gloves on! (Although I considered it when we were living in Japan and didn't have central heating)

I know, this is what happens when you dont pay your electric bills.
How about if you wore fingerless gloves so that you could see your new nail polish better?
Purple would show your fingers off really well.

If your still cold from not having central heating, dont go for blue.

Black fingerless gloves with purple nails .
What sort of false eyelashes do you wear whilst playing the piano?

arent u a guy lol ......weird

Me? No. Female. Piano player. Ergo, want to paint finger nails, don't want or like long nails.

Rostosky? Don't know. Piano player status assumed. But he's (or she's) just not being helpful, which is all I care about!

I think painting nails on short nails will look just fine. I got short nails too but I don't paint them lol. Anyone try playing piano with really long nails? Seems like it be really hard

There's a pianist in Japan, member of S.E.N.S, can't remember her name. Anyway, she plays kind of new age-y/pop type music. And she was a guest on some TV program, the host admired her somewhat long nails and asked if that got in the way when she played. She then launched into a very long explanation (at the piano that was so conveniently available) about how she plays with what she called a flat-finger technique and so the nails didn't get in the way, and actually the nails helped her in then beginning when she was still getting used to the technique. I thought the technique looked absolutely awful, and I remember wondering if that why all of S.E.N.S music is slow and either ballad-y or slow-style new age-y.

Anyway, my reaction to her nails was they looked very pretty, but her playing was boring!


Can an OT thread be hijacked? And self-hijacked at that?

I like the look of painted nails when they are freshly painted. I gave up painting mine. By the end of my day, the paint would be chipped and look terrible.

Ooh!! I hadn't thought of that! Hmm.. well, it is the Fourth weekend, so I'll try it and if I don't like it, or it chips a lot, I can remove it.

I paint each nail a different color. It helps tremendously with fingering!! Now, instead of having to remember the thumb is 1 and the pinkie is 5, I just remember that the pinkie is, of course, pink. I put little dots of color above each note in the score to help with remembering the fingering, and it works great!

Plus, the printed music is SOOO PRETTY now, visually as well as musically.

oh i get it now. great topic and thread contributes a lot

Joe, can't tell if you're joking or not!

On the serious side, I do think a bold, bright color would be very distracting. Although I don't stare at my hands the whole time I play, if there's a jump, I look down...

Hmm, I'll have to pay attention tomorrow and see how much I'm looking at my hands. Although it does depend somewhat on the music. Some pieces I follow along more closely with the score, and of course in-progress pieces, I suspect I am looking up and down repeatedly... Maybe I wouldn't even notice painted nails... I guess I shouldn't assume either way.

Joe the topic is titled OT and says what it is about.

You may not be interested but for a lot of women the subject of finger nails and polish is great fun. And clearly it is for some men too!

Shirokuru - I do think polish looks fine on short nails. I also agree that darker colours would be distracting if you were playing.
It would drive me a bit batty to see flashes of colour while I was playing!
Save the darker colours for non piano evenings!
I too hate to see chipped polish. I think it looks tacky.
I used to carry the polish in my purse for emergency touch ups.

Ok, this might end up being an expensive experiment (if I end up removing it right away) but I am going to get some nail polish tomorrow. I'll post before and after pics.

I've never really seen the point of painted nails, although I don't find them objectionable. Women do seem to enjoy painting them, though. Some young men paint their nails these days as well. I am accustomed to seeing upper income men with manicured nails and clear polish (not me, mind you), but I'm too old to think colored polish on men is normal. I suppose change in what is fashionable and acceptable is inevitable.

So that's what that is...it was hard to tell...but finding that "really amusing" is in itself really amusing

What we need here instead is helpful...this is serious girl-stuff...my only suggestion then is that if and when you decide to take off the polish do so outdoors out of consideration for your husband's nostrils because (as my wife has amply demonstrated) the smell of the remover is worse than the pungent aroma that permeates the region around a paper mill (although it's not quite as bad as that surrounding the typical hog farm).

Trap

TJ, I actually don't much care for the smell of nail polish itself, let alone the remover.

While I don't go outside to put it on or take it off, I do make a point of not inflicting the "aromas" on anyone else.

I remember when I bought my first guitar, I had rather long nails, and a rich wine shade of nail polish.

I learned quickly that for guitar you have to cut your nails (unless you are Dolly, I guess), and that nail polish does stick to guitar strings.

ShiroKuru, I have found that putting a final coat of clear polish can help reduce chipping - or else.... invest in a high quality nail polish - I had one I bought here in Italy that would last for a week without chipping. Most unusual

Shirokuro,
I know this is an extremely life threatening decision that you are having to make and much of the fate of the western world depends on it, so I will stop joking and be very serious.

(Not just yet though , maybe tommorrow around dinner time when we have Halibut)

Nail varnish, I agree is nearly as expensive as a new car, in the UK a Renault Clio can be bought new for £13,200, but that includes number plates and tax, it is an "on the road price"

The average cost of a modest dwelling (dependent on location)
seems to be a little more , coming in at around £246,000

I need my paraboots re- sole-ing, this will cost £40.00, but I have had them 8 years and they are a very rare and hard to get old style paraboot that arn't made anymore.

Even though Trapper john said I was not being helpfull or funny (He particularly likes opportunities to mention this again) at least I never mentioned "slurry" like he did, vis a vis the "smell of hog farming"

So, to help you out I went and had a look on ebay, and guess what? nail varnish was not quite as expensive a trial product as we first thought it to be.
In fact imagine my surprise when I found it could be got for much less than a country estate like Chatsworth House, or even cheaper than importing a generator and a small elephant from Rhodesia.

I didn't look very far to find a pack of twenty four DIFFERENT colours for just £6.95. (UK sterling, or paypal no euros because of greece)

I had to get my calculator out to work out just how expensive each bottle of fun fluid is, but here goes.

24 divided by £6.95 = 3.45 pence each.

Thats three point four pence per bottle, Now if that is not helpfull I do not know what is.

If this still leaves you broke, (major investmensts sometimes do) You are more than welcome to come round to my house and have dinner, we are having Halibut tommorrow, there will be more than enough to share, and you can play my piano should you wish:
regardless of whether you want to play it with or without nail varnish on, I dont mind, If it chips and goes inbetween the keys, that is not a problem, I will just give the keybed a quick once over with the hoover.

We could try all the different colours together, and comment on whos nails look bestest, I will probably say yours do to make you feel good, and we can giggle and stuff.
If you prefer we can test the nail varnish colours on your toes first, that way, if you find a bright colour distracting, you can just hide your toes under my piano whilst playing.

I really hope this helps, I have tried, and searched ebay for 32 seconds, and offered you a nice dinner and a go on a good piano.

Also, I have a spare pair of fingerless gloves that are yours if you should change your mind, winter is not nice in the Uk and its good to think ahead and plan in advance.
Here is the link to the nail varnish for 3.4 pence per bottle:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-24-COLOUR-...=item5199e8dfec

I was going to mention Dolly Parton..when I played fingerstyle guitar I used to clear coat them with a hardener..it looked fine on the right hand, but weird on the left, because the nails were short.. quite a number of ladies admired my nails..asked what I used..LOL!..unfortunately I had to give up guitar..tendon inflamation in the left forearm griping the neck..I think its what violinsts get.. so I switched to piano..no need for nails then..or polish..
although I loved the attention from the ladies about my nails..it was a great conversation starter..LOL !

There are so many factors to juggle here. I hadn't thought about the smell either!

And in spite of Rostosky's findings about the price, if I pay between US$5 and $15, but I only use the products once, in my book that's a little bit expensive. I end up thinking about what else I could have spent that money one. Like sheet music!

In any case, this has all been fun, and I'm going to go loom at polish today!

Rostosky, your maths is terrible.

ShiroKuro, a number of my teenage students sometimes wear nail polish on their piano-short nails; often striking dark colours like blue, green or black, often with sparkles. Piano playing is so difficult anyway that the tiny surprise of dark nails is soon filtered and ignored by the brain. I don't think it will stuff up your playing (never seems to bother my students).

I'm not the kind of teacher that bans the use of nail-polish by students. I've always taken the view that we have bigger fish to fry. omg I really didn't mean to reference halibut.