How long should my fingernails be?

Your fretting hand fingernails should be kept as short as possible without being uncomfortable. Long fingernails make it tough to fret cleanly because they stop your actual finger from being able to press all the way down.

Your rhythm hand, the one that does all strumming and picking, should get the same treatment. Certain styles like fingerpicking can benefit from having longer nails, but not all guitarists are on the same page about that. We don’t do any fingerpicking in the main course, so you don’t have to worry about that. 

Just keep your nails nice and short, and you’ll be good to go.