I come from a classical guitar background where playing with nails is almost an expected and required technique. I tried growing my nails out but it just didn't work for me. It was not worth the time and effort for a couch monkey like me who would never perform in front of an audience. When I moved to steel-string guitars, of course I tried to play with a plectrum as well as finger-picks. I could never get the hang of it. I would either continually drop the plectrum or get the finger picks caught up in the strings. Due to these reasons I could never get the volume I wanted out of the steel-string guitar.
And then I moved to ukulele. Wow! I found my instrument. I could finger pick (with the flesh of my fingers) and I could strum (with my fingers) to my heart's content without fear of dropping a plectrum. It was like discovering a new kind of musical freedom. And you know what? Because of the lower tension of the ukulele strings and the percussive nature of the instrument I was able to get the volume and tone I desire without nails or synthetics.
Of course you can get greater volume with a nails or a pick, but I don't find it necessary for my playing style. You're mileage may vary.
David
David, somehow I thought your name was Steve (?) Ha--my name is David too. You'd think I'd remember yours. Dang man, the ravages of age coupled with years of being a world-class libertine and heathen...
See? I'm even ramblng now.
ANYways, nice post. Rang a lot of bells with me. I started on guitar in 1977 and still played until last year. But early on I gravitated towards bass. Spent many years as a recording and gigging bass player.
I could also never get what I wanted out of guitar, but bass resonated with me.
I had to give bass up last year too. But back in 2000, when I first began experiencing the hand and wrist problems which ultimately robbed me of the ability to play bass and guitar, I instantly connected with ukulele in a way I never had with an instrument, and over the years I've played many string and other instruments (for the most part, poorly.)
This may have had something to do with already having extensive experience with string instruments, or perhaps due to the relief that switching to uke gave me. But it was like a bolt out of the blue.
Even now my fingers crave wanting to be around a uke's neck, the other hand stroking and strumming the stings. I'm addicted to the little whisper of the fingerprint ridges as they skim over the string, and the ringing of the note it brngs.
Plugging an electric bass into an amp the size of a refrigerator and making a deafening rumble while looking out over a crowd of people
including some pretty girls dancing and smiling...that is a great rush of feeling.
But the intimacy and romance of the ukulele brings me a whole other dimesion of joy.