PLECTRUM

A 'plectrum' is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For acoustic guitars, electric guitars, electric basses, banjos, and other similar instruments, the plectrum (or 'pick') is a separate tool held in the player's hand. In harpsichords, the plectra are attached to the harpsichord's jack mechanism.

Contents

Plectra for guitars and similar instruments

Non-Western instruments

Classical and Flamenco guitar

Plectra for harpsichords

Usage note

Notes

References

See also

Plectra for guitars and similar instruments

Main articles: Guitar pick

A plectrum for guitars is typically a narrow, isosceles triangle with rounded corners; the acutest angle is the one used to pluck the string. Such a plectrum can also be called a 'pick' (or a ''flatpick'' to distinguish it from ''fingerpicks''). Plectra are made of a variety of materials, including tortoise shell and celluloid, but today plastic is the most common. The size, shape and width may vary considerably. Thin items such as small coins can be used as a substitute plectrum.
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.
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".

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.

Classical and Flamenco guitar

In general, guitarists from the classical, flamenco and "fingerpicking" musical traditions do not use a pick. Instead, they use the fingertips or fingernails on the right hand. This enables them to pluck a greater number of strings simultaneously, and in the case of the Flamenco guitarist, enables them to perform a wide variety of strumming and percussive effects.
These musicians also use nylon or gut strings on their guitars, which have a mellower sound and are more gentle on the hands.

Plectra for harpsichords

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.
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.^[2]
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.

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.

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

★ List of guitarists

★ Fingerpick

★ Mezrab

★ Flatpicking

★ Crosspicking

★ String instrument