Nail care

[notbob]

I'm new to banjo and this newsgroup. I play both clawhammer and Scruggs
style. Ima geezer. ;)

I tried a couple frailing banjo picks, but neither works well. So, I
learned to alternate between my index, middle, and ring finger for the
down strokes. I also began watching my picking hand, more closely.

Best advice? Make sure you hit that g 5th string every time,
keeping yer clawhammer ("hoe hand") nail tucked in close. Doing the
"bum" stroke or the "strum" stroke, uniformity is the key. Striking the
string with the back of yer nail and letting it slide off yer nail
helps keep the nail from cracking/splitting.

Keeping yer frail nail well trimmed also helps. If a nail developes a
split, use a nail file to trim it down to jes below the split. Short
frail nails work jes fine. Walmart sells excellent diamond nailfiles
fer about $.79 ea. Eventually, yer frail nail will no longer split.

That's my rant. Let's see some ppl in here!! ;)

nb