Guitar: Guitar Accessories: An Open Learning Guide

Picks are probably the most frequently bought guitar accessory. There are several reasons, but mostly it is because there are so many types of picks, and picks are so easily lost. When you go to the guitar store, you are overwhelmed by the agony of choice, and this is especially true for the beginner.

Picks are probably as old as guitars themselves, although most modern picks are made out of plastic, or sometimes metal. Apart from shape and size of the picks, its strength and the material used to make it are important, because these affect the "feel" of playing with the pick.

Up until about the 70's, most picks were made out of horn or turtle shell. Turtle shell was generally better, because it allowed some flexibility when hitting the strings. However, over time this was devastating the turtle population, and now most picks are made of nylon or plastic. Generally nylon picks have the same properties of the turtle shells, and plastic picks are thicker and denser. However, the general disadvantage of plastic picks is that they wear out quickly, especially if you play fast and hard.

Since the guitar industry constantly experiments with new materials, you might walk into the guitar shop and find something completely exotic. For example, you can buy picks made from hard leather, which are outstanding for classical guitars because of the soft feeling.

Selecting the correct pick for you depends above all on what style of guitar you want to play. Lead or rhythm? Will you be slowly strumming chords, or chugging away on distorted power chords? Each style is most easily accomplished with a particular type of pick. Generally speaking, how hard a pick you use depends on how hard your strings are. Heavier strings will require thicker picks, and vice versa. The shape of the pick determines how much operating area you have to use. For example, rhythm guitarists usually use blunter, larger picks, and lead guitarists use pointier picks so they can more precisely hit individual strings.

If you use hard picks, you will get a hard sound out of the strings, especially with metal picks. Generally the thicker the pick the less "give" there will be when you strum a chord. However, because no two companies manufacture picks with the same material, Company X's 0.76 mm pick will feel different than Company Y's 0.76 mm. Above all, remember that you should always select a pick based on your ability to handle it. You can only play well with a pick if it fits well in your hand.

Picks for the guitar typically range in thickness from the ultra thin 0.38 mm to the really thick 1.14 mm, although bass picks can be thicker. A mid-range pick would be something about 0.76 mm thick. Beginners will usually prefer softer picks until they can learn to hold them securely.

Aside from the thickness and mass of the pick, there also exist different pick types. There's the finger pick, which fits over your fingers with a ring (thumb-pick is special because it's angled), and even your normal picks may have different shapes, such as shark-fin (better at chord), sharppoint, etc.

Each type of guitar uses its own type of strings. Strings are specifically designed for a type of guitar to give it a particular sort of sound. The differences between string types affect the guitar's tone, and it is not recommended to use a set of strings not made for your guitar. Not only would the result not sound good, but attempting to string a guitar with the wrong kind of strings would be difficult, frustrating, and might damage your instrument.

Three of the best and most popular brands of guitar strings for both acoustic and electric guitar are currently Ernie Ball, D'Addario, and Elixir. Ernie Balls and D'Addarios are much cheaper than Elixirs, but Elixirs will keep their bright tone for months (which is why they are higher-priced). But Elixirs can break as easily as any other strings, so they are perhaps best left to people who have been playing a long time and rarely snap strings. The difference between the other two brands is a matter of taste; try them both.

Source and licence

Text adapted from Guitar/Guitar Accessories by Wikibooks contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0. Paragraphs have been selected and abridged, and formatting adjusted. This adapted text is shared under the same licence. Contributor history.