When playing the pipa, press the strings with the fingers of the left hand and play the strings with the fingers of the right hand. Due to the use of metal strings in modern times, the right finger needs to wear false nails to play. Wearing false nails has long existed. For example, in the past, thin copper sheets, thin aluminum sheets, thin horn sheets, and thin ivory sheets were used to make oval false nails. However, such fake nails have metal noises, or are easy to damage the string body, or are too thick and sound dull, and have many shortcomings and are not ideal.

The selection of false nails should pay attention to the three requirements of proper thickness, tough and wear-resistant texture, and smooth surface. Because if the material is too thick, it will lack elasticity, but if the material is too thin, it is not suitable to play the string hard; if there is no considerable wear resistance, it will often break; if the surface is not smooth, the string will be broken when playing. not feeling fluent
There are not many materials that meet the requirements of the three points listed above, and a relatively wear-resistant nylon sheet is used. Now players also use fake nails made of tortoiseshell. Of course, this is not ideal, and we hope to produce materials that meet these three requirements in the future.
There are generally three types of fake nails:
Thumb: The outer tip of the thumb can be made more prominent, because when the thumb picks the string, the outer tip of the thumb is used. The left and right edges of the false nails are made to bend toward the center, so that the bent parts are clipped on the nails near the finger flesh on both sides of the thumb nail, so as not to shake when pulling the string.
Index finger: Make a semi-circular protrusion on the central tip of the index finger. When the index finger is playing a single note, most of the fingernails on the side of the index finger are used to play the strings; but when playing chords with the main melody on the sub-strings (there are two, three, and four strings simultaneously sounded), the middle finger side of the index finger must be used. the tip of your fingernail to play the strings. Therefore, the tip of the index finger, one is made into a semicircle. However, when this kind of nails play the string at right angles to the vertical angle of the string body, the noise is louder because the contact surface between the fingernail end and the string body is too large. The other is to make a pointed circle. When this kind of fingernail is used to play the string with the fingernail on the big finger side or the middle finger side of the index finger, the contact surface between the fingernail and the string body is more, and the noise is also larger. Which form to choose can be determined according to the physiological conditions of each person's fingers and the habit of playing strings. In order to make it easier to play fingering such as wiping, it is also advisable to bend the left and right edges to the center like a big nail, so that the bent part is clipped on the nails near the finger flesh on both sides of the index nail.
Middle, name, and little fingers: These three fingers generally use the central tip of the nail (90 degrees to the vertical angle of the string body) to play the string, so it is advisable to make the central tip part sharp and protruding. shape to minimize the area of contact between the nail and the string body.
The fake nails should be made to be exactly the same as the real nails on the worn fingers in roundness, curvature, and central curvature, and the length should be slightly longer than the real nails. The width and length of the curved parts on both sides of the big finger and the index nail must be very suitable. Otherwise, if it is too short or too wide, it will be loose and easy to fall off; if it is too long and too tight, it will pinch the finger meat.

A model has been made. When making, just put the waiting nail piece in the model, and it can be processed into a false nail with a similar roundness to the fingernail. The color of the fake nails should be similar to the color of people's nails.

There are several ways to fix false nails:
Stick the plaster flesh on the inner side of the fake nail, and stick it to the nail after heating it before wearing. This method is inconvenient to wear and is rarely used now.
Use rubber tape or plastic tape for horizontal turns.
Use rubber tape or plastic tape to make diagonal cross turns.
Adhere the fake nail to the real nail with a suitable fast-drying glue.