Spirit of Play

Guitars. Sometimes you just have to pluck the strings diplomatically. On other occasions, they demand more of you (or, in terms of technique, less). To pluck a string, you need only a finger or a thumb. But if you're going to strum a guitar, you might wish to use that marvellous invention, the plectrum.

Personally, I haven't used one of those crazy contraptions for a while now. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's time to try again. How difficult could it be?

For a start, you need to lay your hands on one or two of them. At least two, in fact – one for you, another for the other guitarist (hello, Ms Texas). But mine have almost all vanished. Perhaps imagining that they would never be used again, at least not by me, they've sold themselves off, one by one, on eBay. Sadly packed themselves into giant Jiffy bags, one at a time, and shipped each other off to distant guitarists with long hair, in foreign lands, who sit in front of their iBooks all day playing skiffle versions of "Enter Sandman". Etc. I mean, really, what kind of a life is that?

For a plectrum. That is.

If you followed the link above and scrolled down, you'll have seen an expert's "small collection" of plectra – everything from a "3mm fatty" to a see-through one.

Here's mine:

That's right. The red plectrum holder in the top right doesn't count but the penny does: it's the survivor of numerous gigs and broken E-strings. I'm not so sure about the rest, especially the one in the middle that goes to 11 . . . .