Various guitar picks

Often called a pick or plec, a plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For guitars and similar instruments, the plectrum is a separate tool held in the player's hand. In harpsichords, the plectra are attached to the harpsichord's jack mechanism. 3 guitar picks File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... 3 guitar picks File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ... For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). ... Harpsichord in the Flemish style A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. ...

Plectrum for Guitars and Similar Instruments

Main article: Guitar pick

A plectrum for guitars is typically a narrow, isosceles triangle with rounded corners; the most acute angle is the one used to pluck the string. A plectrum can also be called a pick (or a flatpick to distinguish it from fingerpicks). The size, shape and width may vary considerably. Thin items such as small coins or a bread clippers can be used as substitute plectra. Various guitar picks. ... For alternate meanings, such as the musical instrument, see triangle (disambiguation). ... This article is about monetary coins. ...

Banjo and guitar players may wear a metal or plastic thumb pick mounted on a ring, and bluegrass banjo players often wear metal or plastic fingerpicks on their fingertips. Guitarists also occasionally use fingerpicks. A fingerpick is a type of plectrum used most commonly for playing bluegrass style banjo music. ...

Guitarists in the rock, blues, jazz and bluegrass world tend to use a plectrum, partly because the use of steel strings tends to wear out the fingernails quickly, and also because using a plectrum allows for a more 'focused' and 'aggressive' sound. Many guitarists also develop the use of the plectrum and remaining right-hand fingers simultaneously, affording most of the advantages of both techniques. This technique is called "hybrid picking". Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ... Blues music redirects here. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

Non-Western instruments

The plectra for the Japanese biwa and shamisen can be quite large, and those used for the Arabic oud are longer and narrower, replacing the formerly used eagle feather. Plectra used for Chinese instruments such as the sanxian were formerly made of animal horn, though many players today use plastic plectra. For other uses, see Biwa (disambiguation). ... Kitagawa Utamaro, Flowers of Edo: Young Womans Narrative Chanting to the Samisen, ca. ... Front and rear views of an oud. ... Chinese postage stamp depicting a sanxian The sanxian (Chinese: 三弦, pinyin sānxián, Wade-Giles san1-hsien2, lit. ...

Materials

Plectra for guitars are made of a variety of materials, including celluloid, metal, and rarely other exotic materials such as stone, but today plastic is the most common. For other instruments in the modern day most players use plastic plectra but a variety of other materials, including wood and felt (for use with the ukulele) are common. Celluloid is the name of a class of compounds created from nitrocellulose and camphor, plus dyes and other agents, generally regarded to be the first thermoplastic. ... For other uses, see Plastic (disambiguation). ... A selection of 4 different felt cloths. ... The ukulele (from Hawaiian: , pronounced ), variantly spelled ukelele (particularly in the UK), or alternately abbreviated uke, is a chordophone classified as a plucked lute; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four strings or four courses of strings. ...

Plectrum for Harpsichords

Upper portion of a harpsichord jack holding a plectrum

In a harpsichord, there is a separate plectrum for each string. These plectra are very small, often only about a centimeter long, about 1.5 millimeters wide, and half a millimeter thick. The plectrum is gently tapered, being narrowest at the plucking end. The top surface of the plectrum is flat and horizontal, and is held in the tongue of the jack, which permits it to pluck moving upward and pass almost silently past the string moving downward. Lahir di Kampung terpencil tepatnya di Desa Timeepa Kecamatan Mapia Kabupaten Nabire Propinsi Papua. ... Lahir di Kampung terpencil tepatnya di Desa Timeepa Kecamatan Mapia Kabupaten Nabire Propinsi Papua. ... Harpsichord in the Flemish style A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. ...

In the past, plectra were made of sturdy feather quills, usually from crows or ravens. In Italy, some makers (including Bartolomeo Cristofori) used vulture quills.^[1]. Other Italian harpsichords employed plectra of leather.^[2] In late French harpsichords by the great builder Pascal Taskin, peau de buffle, a chamois-like material from the hide of the European bison, was used for plectra to produce a delicate pianissimo.^[3] For other uses, see Crow (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Raven (disambiguation). ... Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco (May 4, 1655 - January 27, 1731) was an Italian maker of musical instruments, generally regarded as the inventor of the piano. ... Orders Falconiformes (Fam. ... For other uses, see Leather (disambiguation). ... Pascal Joseph Taskin (1723-1793) was a French harpsichord and piano maker. ... Binomial name Rupicapra rupicapra (Linnaeus, 1758) The chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra) is a large, goat-like animal that lives in the European Alps and Carpathians. ... Binomial name Bison bonasus (Linnaeus, 1758) The Wisent (pronounced vE-zent) is the European bison, species Bison bonasus. ... “Fortissimo” redirects here. ...

Modern harpsichords often substitute a more durable plastic, such as delrin or celcon, for quill. This cuts down substantially on the time that must be spent in requilling. Delrin is the brand name for an acetal resin engineering plastic invented and sold by DuPont. ... Polyoxymethylene, also known as acetal resin, polytrioxane and polyformaldehyde, is an engineering plastic used to make gears, bushings and other mechanical parts. ...

Usage note

"Plectrum" has both a Latin-based plural, plectra, and a native English plural, plectrums. Plectra is used in formal writing, particularly in discussing the harpsichord as an instrument of classical music. However, plectrums is more common in ordinary speech. In vernacular speech the abbreviation pleck or "plec" (plural: plecks) is sometimes used. Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ...

Notes

1. ^ Jensen 1998, 85
2. ^ Hubbard 1967
3. ^ Hubbard 1967

References

• Hubbard, Frank (1967) Three Centuries of Harpsichord Making. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Jensen, David P. (1998) "A Florentine Harpsichord: Revealing a Transitional Technology" Early Music, February issue, pp. 71-85.

See also

• Guitar pick
• Hybrid picking
• List of guitarists
• Fingerpick
• Mezrab
• Flatpicking
• Crosspicking
• String instrument