open tuning en Guitar Girl'd: How Does Dolly Parton Play Guitar
with Those Long Fingernails? <!--paging_filter--><p>There’s this
nagging question I can’t get out of my mind. How does Dolly
Parton play guitar with those long fingernails? ‘Cause it’s been
decades since I gave up any thought of having nails that went
more than a millimeter past the ends of my fingertips.</p>
<p>Now, I’ve seen Dolly Parton play, and while she’s not what I
would call a guitar hero (heroine?), she gets around OK. And
honestly, most of the time I wasn’t looking at her fingers, and
I’m sure 99.99 percent of the rest of the audience wasn’t
either. </p> <p>But once I did investigate, I realized the
answer was quite simple. She always plays in open tuning and
just barres every chord. </p> <p>Now, this method would limit
any chordal coloring, like 7ths or 9ths, but I guess she doesn’t
care. I’ve known women who have immediately dismissed the
thought of learning guitar, because it meant cutting their nails
or having mis-matched hands (lon