FA+
Shop
337
Views
Views
3
Favorites
Favorites
Category
Artwork (Traditional) / TF / TG
Species Housecat
Size 1280 x 944
File Size 265.5 kB
Report this content
More from nothingspecial
It's cool, Alex, I'm sure this isn't an awkward line of questioning at all and Kat would love to keep talking about it.
Category Artwork (Traditional) / TF / TG
Species Housecat
Size 1280 x 944px
File Size 265.5 kB
An interesting question! On a fretted string instrument, the endpoints of the string's vibrating length are the bridge (at the far end) and the fret wire itself (or the "nut" at the base of the headstock,) so it shouldn't make any difference what the finger clamping the string down to the fret is like, tonally.
(It would probably take more practice/finesse to catch and maintain pressure on the string with a narrow claw-point than the fleshy fingertip, but it's not like cats don't have big ol' beans to use for that. A species that couldn't velvet their claws - a foxgirl guitarist, say - might have more trouble making use of that without the claw itself catching the next string up.)
Down at the other end, it'd actually expand your options! Plucking the string with a narrow, hard point is exactly what people use a pick for - it gives a sharper attack and more high-end "twang" to the sound than doing it with the fingertip or even the relatively broad and rounded human fingernail. Using claws for the purpose would be like playing with fingerpicks that felt like a normal part of the hand, instead of a weird little accessory - and, again, catfolk could presumably play "normal" fingerstyle if they wanted.
And finally, back on the fretting hand, claws could be useful as built-in slides - it might be a challenge to make use of this in a lap-steel or "Hawaiian" context where the strings are tuned to an open chord and played together (it's very hard to move your hand up and down the neck while keeping your fingers exactly in line - one reason why "double stops" are considered more of a technical challenge on fretless instruments like the violin family, and why some people feel that fanned-fret guitars are more ergonomic than standard designs,) but it'd be perfect for Duane Allman-style solo lines.
But then, Kat specifically got a very "vanilla" anime-style catgirl transformation, and her fingers are entirely human, if a little daintier than when she was Kit ;)
(It would probably take more practice/finesse to catch and maintain pressure on the string with a narrow claw-point than the fleshy fingertip, but it's not like cats don't have big ol' beans to use for that. A species that couldn't velvet their claws - a foxgirl guitarist, say - might have more trouble making use of that without the claw itself catching the next string up.)
Down at the other end, it'd actually expand your options! Plucking the string with a narrow, hard point is exactly what people use a pick for - it gives a sharper attack and more high-end "twang" to the sound than doing it with the fingertip or even the relatively broad and rounded human fingernail. Using claws for the purpose would be like playing with fingerpicks that felt like a normal part of the hand, instead of a weird little accessory - and, again, catfolk could presumably play "normal" fingerstyle if they wanted.
And finally, back on the fretting hand, claws could be useful as built-in slides - it might be a challenge to make use of this in a lap-steel or "Hawaiian" context where the strings are tuned to an open chord and played together (it's very hard to move your hand up and down the neck while keeping your fingers exactly in line - one reason why "double stops" are considered more of a technical challenge on fretless instruments like the violin family, and why some people feel that fanned-fret guitars are more ergonomic than standard designs,) but it'd be perfect for Duane Allman-style solo lines.
But then, Kat specifically got a very "vanilla" anime-style catgirl transformation, and her fingers are entirely human, if a little daintier than when she was Kit ;)
Comments