When Dominic Miller walks into a room with his signature white nylon string guitar, you’re in the presence of someone who’s shaped the sound of modern pop music in ways most people don’t realize. As Sting’s longtime guitarist and the composer behind “Shape of My Heart,” Miller has spent decades proving that the nylon string guitar deserves a place far beyond classical music repertoire.
In a recent conversation that I had in the studio, Miller shared insights into his approach to the instrument, revealing techniques that have made him one of the most sought-after nylon string players in contemporary music. For guitarists curious about adding this expressive instrument to their arsenal, his perspective offers a masterclass in both technique and musical philosophy.
Why Every Guitarist Should Own a Nylon String
The nylon string guitar holds a special place in musical tradition, particularly in South America where Miller was born. According to Miller, in Argentina and throughout Latin America, you’ll find a nylon string guitar in virtually every household—it’s the folk instrument of the region, the sound of everyday life and celebration.
But the nylon string’s warmth and immediacy transcend geography. As Miller puts it, the sound “hits the heart immediately” and “pulls the heartstrings” in ways that steel string guitars simply don’t. It’s a much warmer sound with a completely different character—softer, more intimate, and capable of extraordinary lyrical expression.
For songwriters, the nylon string guitar offers particular advantages. The gentler tone creates space for vocal melodies, making it an ideal accompaniment instrument. Artists from Willie Nelson to Joan Baez to Bob Dylan have all recognized this quality, incorporating nylon strings into folk and country contexts far removed from classical tradition.
The Technique That Changed Everything: Apoyando vs Tirando
One of the most fascinating aspects of Miller’s playing comes from an unexpected source: necessity. Years of playing Stratocaster on tour with Sting kept breaking his fingernails, forcing him to relearn classical technique using only the flesh of his fingers and thumb, instead of his nails. This constraint led him to embrace apoyando—a technique that fundamentally changed his sound.
Understanding the Two Core Techniques
Tirando (pulling): This is the more traditional Western fingerpicking approach, similar to what steel string players use. You pull the string away from the guitar, often using nails for projection.
Apoyando (leaning): Literally meaning “leaning into the string,” this technique involves resting your finger on the adjacent string after plucking. It’s the same approach bass players use, creating a fuller, beefier sound with more presence.
Miller’s preference for apoyando comes partly from practical concerns—no broken nails before important shows—but also from the tonal quality it produces. Playing with flesh rather than nails creates a smoother attack curve with less percussive spike and more sustained warmth. The sound has different dynamics, a rounder quality that suits both intimate playing and larger arrangements.
Nails vs Flesh: The Great Debate
Interestingly, Miller argues that the best sound for nylon string guitar comes from playing without nails entirely. Historically, classical guitarists played with flesh alone. They only adopted nails later when performing in larger concert halls required more projection—similar to how opera singers developed more pronounced vibrato to fill bigger spaces.
Using a pick or nails produces more volume, but Miller loves the softness and smoothness of flesh-on-string contact. For thumb playing, he always uses flesh. For finger work, it’s somewhere in between—mostly flesh with minimal nail contact. This approach has given him distinctive calluses on his fingertips, much like a bass player develops, allowing him to execute the apoyando technique with power and control.
The Perfect Blend: Nylon and Steel String Together
One revelation from Miller’s approach is how beautifully nylon and steel string guitars complement each other in ensemble playing. He recalls a life-changing concert featuring John McLaughlin, Al Di Meola, and Paco de Lucía—widely considered one of the greatest flamenco guitarists of all time. The blend of Paco’s nylon string with the steel strings of McLaughlin and Di Meola created a rich, textured sound that demonstrated how the two instruments occupy different sonic spaces.
When playing together, the nylon string’s warmth fills the midrange with an almost vocal quality, while the steel string adds brightness and percussive definition. Rather than competing, they create layers that enhance each arrangement. This is why Miller encourages guitarists to experiment with combining both instruments, whether in duo settings or layered recordings.
The South American Sound: Syncopation and Bossa Nova
The South American tradition brings particular rhythmic sophistication to nylon string playing, especially in Brazilian music and bossa nova. These styles rely heavily on syncopation—the placement of rhythmic emphasis on unexpected beats that creates forward motion and groove.
Miller’s approach to bossa nova exemplifies this syncopated feel. While the pattern works on steel string guitar (as we showed in this video here the last time we caught up), it truly comes alive on nylon strings. The gentler attack and sustained notes of nylon strings allow the syncopation to breathe, creating that characteristic swaying, intimate quality that defines Brazilian guitar music.
For guitarists interested in exploring this tradition, Miller suggests starting with the basic bossa nova pattern and paying attention to where rhythmic emphasis falls. The nylon string’s forgiving nature makes it easier to execute these patterns with the dynamic subtlety they require.
String Maintenance: When Dead Strings Sound Better
Miller offers unconventional wisdom about string changes that challenges typical guitar maintenance advice: don’t change your strings too often. In Brazilian and Latin American music traditions, players rarely change nylon strings, sometimes keeping them on for over a year.
The reasoning is counterintuitive but sound. Nylon strings go through distinct phases:
- Brand new: Bright, crispy (especially high-tension strings like D’Addario Pro-Arté)
- Dead phase: The strings lose brightness and intonation suffers
- Settled phase: After the dead period, something remarkable happens—the strings settle into a warm, focused tone that many players prefer
Miller’s favorite Brazilian guitarist, Baden Powell, achieved a sound so “dead” it became beautiful—the same quality George Harrison captured with old electric guitar strings. There’s a roundness and lack of harshness that new strings simply can’t match.
When changing nylon strings, Miller never cuts them at the bridge. Instead, he leaves extra length. Why? Because when a string breaks, it typically breaks near the bridge. That extra length allows you to reuse the string by tying it higher up. Miller has recycled strings this way, extending their life significantly—a practice common among South American players.
Writing Pop Music on Nylon Strings: From “Shape of My Heart” to “Desert Rose”
Miller’s compositional work demonstrates how effectively nylon strings translate to contemporary pop contexts. “Shape of My Heart,” one of the most recognizable nylon string riffs in modern music, originated in E major played high on the neck. When Sting heard it and wanted to sing higher, Miller transposed it but kept the sophisticated fingering that gives the riff its distinctive character.
Originally recorded on an electric nylon string guitar with a cutaway (making the high-position playing more comfortable), the piece features a particularly challenging chord that’s much easier to execute in the higher position. When performing it live on a traditional nylon string without a cutaway, Miller had to recalibrate the fingering, moving it to the middle strings while sacrificing some of the open string resonance of the original voicing.
Miller was inspired by Sting’s “Fragile” when exploring nylon string in pop contexts—a song that Sting wrote and played himself. For Miller,”Fragile” represents a perfect example of what nylon string guitar can accomplish in a pop song.
Along with a few other tracks from that era, it demonstrates how the instrument can find its way into contemporary music naturally. The combination works brilliantly for singers writing melodies and lyrics—the nylon string accompaniment supports vocal lines without overwhelming them, creating space for the voice to shine.
Classical Guitar vs Spanish Guitar: Why Terminology Matters
Miller makes an important distinction about how we label the instrument. While many people call it a “classical guitar,” that term boxes it into a specific musical genre—classical music. In South America, they simply call it “a guitar” because it’s the default instrument in most households, not a specialized classical tool.
The more accurate term is “Spanish guitar,” reflecting its origins in late 1800s Spain where luthiers developed the modern nylon string design. Spanish music—including tangos, habaneras, and compositions by figures like Fernando Sor—represents the instrument’s original tradition.
But calling it a “classical guitar” excludes all the folk music, blues, country, and pop that works beautifully on nylon strings. Willie Nelson plays nylon string guitar. Joan Baez used it for American folk music at its finest. These applications are just as valid as any classical repertoire.
The Spanish guitar designation acknowledges tradition while leaving room for contemporary exploration. It’s about intention and feeling rather than adherence to classical technique or repertoire. As Miller demonstrates through his work, you can tell compelling stories on these strings regardless of genre.
Beatles Arrangements: Bringing Solo Guitar to Life
Miller’s recent project involves arranging Beatles songs for solo guitar—a natural extension of his love for both the band and classical guitar repertoire. The challenge lies in creating self-contained arrangements where melody and accompaniment exist as one, much like classical guitar pieces function as “small orchestral pieces.”
Take “Blackbird,” which Miller considers one of the greatest riffs ever written. Most guitarists play Paul McCartney’s original fingerpicking pattern and enjoy it immensely, but Miller wanted more—he wanted the vocal melody integrated into the guitar arrangement.
Spending hours in hotel rooms during his extensive touring schedule (10 months per year between Sting’s tours and his own!), Miller worked out how to incorporate the melody while maintaining the essential riff. The result is a complete musical statement that does justice to the song while standing alone as a guitar piece.
This approach reflects Miller’s broader philosophy about solo guitar work. These arrangements should contain everything—melody, harmony, bass lines, and rhythmic drive—all flowing from one instrument. It’s what makes classical guitar repertoire so satisfying, and Miller applies the same standard to contemporary pop material.
His book of Beatles arrangements offers guitarists (on both nylon and steel string) a chance to explore these songs in new depth. By treating them as solo guitar pieces rather than simple chord-and-melody exercises, the arrangements reveal new dimensions in familiar material.
Finding Your Voice on Nylon Strings
Perhaps Miller’s most valuable insight is that the nylon string guitar shapes how you phrase and articulate. The instrument asks for a certain approach—more romantic, more lyrical, allowing space between notes. Even players coming from steel string or electric backgrounds find themselves instinctively adapting to what the sound requires.
This isn’t about rigid technique or classical orthodoxy. It’s about listening to what the instrument offers and meeting it with appropriate touch. You can play quieter on nylon strings because the lightest touch produces beautiful tone. This dynamic range—from whisper-quiet to full voice—gives the instrument extraordinary expressive capability.
For guitarists ready to explore nylon strings, Miller’s advice is simple: get one, play it, and let the sound guide your phrasing. Whether you’re adapting steel string techniques, exploring classical repertoire, writing original music, or arranging existing songs, the nylon string guitar rewards attention with a voice unlike any other instrument.
The Traveler’s Instrument
At its heart, the guitar—whether nylon or steel string—remains a traveler’s instrument. You can take it anywhere, from beaches in Argentina (even with sandy, salty strings) to hotel rooms around the world. This portability and accessibility define the guitar’s role in human culture.
The original Martin guitars were designed to travel on the back of a trailer, carried by troubadours telling stories across the landscape. The nylon string guitar continues this tradition, perhaps even more suited to travel than its steel string cousin due to its quieter volume and gentler demands on the player.
Miller’s white Yairi has traveled the world, from intimate studio sessions to massive concert halls, adapting to whatever musical situation presents itself. That adaptability—the ability to serve equally well in pop arrangements, solo classical pieces, folk songs, and improvisational explorations—makes the nylon string guitar endlessly valuable for musicians willing to embrace its distinctive voice.
Final Thoughts
Dominic Miller’s approach to nylon string guitar demonstrates that technical excellence and musical accessibility aren’t opposing forces. By embracing different techniques, understanding the instrument’s South American roots, and applying sophisticated arrangement skills to contemporary material, he’s created a body of work that expands what’s possible on six nylon strings.
For guitarists who’ve never owned a nylon string, Miller’s perspective offers compelling reasons to reconsider. The warm, immediate tone, the forgiving dynamic range, the songwriting possibilities, and the sheer pleasure of the instrument’s voice make it an essential addition to any player’s collection. As Miller would say, it’s not about one being better than the other—it’s about finding where you can best tell your story, and for many musical moments, nylon strings provide the perfect medium.
