chipping. Notable guitarists to adopt this hardware are Ani DiFranco, Doyle Dykes, Don Ross, and Richard Smith. Advantages and disadvantages Players do not have to carry a plectrum, but fingernails may have to be maintained at the right length and in good condition if the player has a preference to use fingernails over their skin. It is possible to play multiple non-adjacent strings at exactly the same time. This enables the guitarist to play a very low bass note and a high treble note at the same time. This enables the guitarist to play double stops, such as an octave, a fifth, a sixth, or other intervals that suit the harmony. It is more suitable for playing polyphonically, with separate, independent musical lines, or separate melody, harmony and bass parts, and therefore more suitable to unaccompanied solo playing, or to very small ensembles, like duos in which a guitarist accompanies a singer. Fingerstyle players have up to four (or five) surfaces (fingernails or picks) striking the strings and/or other parts of the guitar independently; that does not equate to four plectrums, since plectrums can strike strings on both up and a downstroke easily, while fingers can achieve alternation only with hard practice. (An exception to this may be found in the flamenco technique of rasgueado.) It is easy to play arpeggios; but the techniques for tremolo (rapid repetition of a note) and melody playing are more complex than with plectrum playing. It is possible to play chords without any arpeggiation, because up to five strings can be plucked simultaneously. There is less need for fretting hand damping (muting) in playing chords, since only the strings that are required can be plucked. A greater variation in strokes is possible, allowing greater expressiveness in timbre and dynamics. A wide variety of strums and rasgueados are possible. Less energy is generally imparted to strings than with plectrum playing, leading to lower volume when playing acoustically. Playing on heavier gauge strings can damage nails: fingerstyle is more suited to nylon strings or lighter gauge steel strings (but this does not apply to fingerpicks, or when the flesh of the fingers is used rather than the nail, as is common with the lute.) Nylon string guitar styles Nylon string guitars are most frequently played fingerstyle. Classical guitar fingerstyle The term "Classical guitar" can refer to any kind of art music played fingerstyle on a nylon