Often called a pick or plec, a plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a Musical instrument that produces Sound by means of Vibrating strings In the Hornbostel-Sachs For guitars and similar instruments, the plectrum is a separate tool held in the player's hand. The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles In harpsichords, the plectra are attached to the harpsichord's jack mechanism. A harpsichord is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard.
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Plectrum for Guitars and Similar Instruments
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 guitar pick is a type of Plectrum designed for use on a Guitar. A triangle is one of the basic Shapes of Geometry: a Polygon with three corners or vertices and three sides or edges which are Line 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. main - title Coin keywords numismatics coin review
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. A fingerpick is a type of Plectrum used most commonly for playing bluegrass style Banjo Music. 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. Rock and roll (also known as rock 'n' roll) is a form of Music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s with roots in mostly African The Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of Music based on the use of the Blue notes It emerged as an accessible form of self-expression Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and is a sub-genre of Country music. 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". Hybrid Picking is a Guitar -playing technique that involves picking with a pick and fingers at the same time
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. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The biwa ( 琵琶) is a Japanese short-necked fretted Lute, and a close variant of the Chinese Pipa. The shamisen or samisen ( Japanese: 三[[wiktionary 味|味]] 線, literally "three flavor strings" also called sangen (literally The oud ( عود ʿūd, plural أعواد, a‘wād; kaban; Persian: بربط barbat; ud Plectra used for Chinese instruments such as the sanxian were formerly made of animal horn, though many players today use plastic plectra. The sanxian ( Chinese: 三絃literally "three strings" is a Chinese Lute &mdash a three-stringed Fretless plucked
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. Celluloid is the name of a class of compounds created from Nitrocellulose and Camphor, plus dyes and other agents Plastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products 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. Felt is a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting condensing and pressing fibers The ukulele (ˌjʉːkəˈlɛɪli from ʻukulele /ˌʔukuˈlele/ variantly spelled ukelele (particularly in the UK) or alternatively abbreviated uke
Plectrum for Harpsichords
In a harpsichord, there is a separate plectrum for each string. A harpsichord is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. 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. The true crows are large Passerine Birds that comprise the Genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Raven is the common name given to the largest species of Passerine Birds in the Genus Corvus. In Italy, some makers (including Bartolomeo Cristofori) used vulture quills. Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco ( May 4, 1655 - January 27, 1731) was an Italian maker of musical instruments generally regarded Vultures are scavenging Birds feeding mostly on the carcasses of dead Animals Vultures are found on every continent except Antarctica and [1]. Other Italian harpsichords employed plectra of leather. Leather is a material created through the Tanning of hides and Skins of Animals primarily Cattlehide The Tanning process [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. Pascal Joseph Taskin (1723-1793 was a French Harpsichord and Piano maker The chamois ( Rupicapra rupicapra) is a Goat -like animal native to the Carpathian Mountains of Romania the European Alps, the Gran The wisent (ˈviːzənt or European bison ( Bison bonasus) is a Bison Species and the heaviest surviving land animal in Europe In Music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a Sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece either stylistic [3]
Modern harpsichords often substitute a more durable plastic, such as delrin or celcon, for quill. Polyoxymethylene (POM in the USA also commonly known under DuPont 's brand name Delrin, is an Engineering plastic, a Polymer with the chemical Polyoxymethylene (POM in the USA also commonly known under DuPont 's brand name Delrin, is an Engineering plastic, a Polymer with the chemical 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. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Plectra is used in formal writing, particularly in discussing the harpsichord as an instrument of classical music. Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and Secular music However, plectrums is more common in ordinary speech. In vernacular speech the abbreviation pleck or "plec" (plural: plecks) is sometimes used.
Notes
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
A guitar pick is a type of Plectrum designed for use on a Guitar. Hybrid Picking is a Guitar -playing technique that involves picking with a pick and fingers at the same time This list of guitarists includes Guitarists for whom there is an article A fingerpick is a type of Plectrum used most commonly for playing bluegrass style Banjo Music. mizrabfingerjpeg|thumb|A mizrab as worn on the index finger]] A Mezrāb ( also spelled mizrab) or zakhmeh ( also spelled as zakhma) is a Plectrum Flatpicking is a technique for playing a Guitar using a Guitar pick (also called a Plectrum) held between two or three fingers to strike the strings Crosspicking is a technique popularised by bluegrass musician Jesse McReynolds for playing the mandolin or guitar using a Plectrum or flatpick in a rolling Syncopated A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a Musical instrument that produces Sound by means of Vibrating strings In the Hornbostel-SachsDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic