The life of a guitarist is not all glamour and glory. Mostly, you spend your time looking for a guitar pick, you know, the one you just put down a second ago. Over the years, many explanations have arisen to explain the phenomenon of the disappearing pick, but unfortunately science has yet to give us a definitive answer.
So, in the spirit of investigation and with hopes of someday exposing the truth, here are 13 of the leading theories on what happened to your lost guitar pick.
1. It fell between your couch cushions.
Check in your couch and you’ll certainly find a guitar pick or two, a handful of change, and a long-lost remote control.
2. Check your dryer.
Step one: leave a pick in your pocket. Step two: forget to empty your pockets before you do your laundry. Step three: check your dryer, because it is now full of guitar picks.
3. It joined a colony under the furniture.
Guitar picks like it under your furniture. It makes sense — it’s dark down there and they can live relatively undisturbed until you move.
4. Your cat took it.
If you’ve got a pet in the house, chances are they’ve gotten their paws mixed up in something to do with your guitar. Cats especially like guitar picks because they are small, fun to bat at, and most importantly, you need them.
5. It grew legs and walked away.
Sometimes this is the only possibility that makes sense.
6. You dropped it in the soundhole, didn’t you?
Have fun trying to shake it out! If you’re feeling adventurous, you can fish your guitar pick out of your soundhole by affixing a piece of double-sided tape to the end of a stick or pen.
7. It was picked up by a gnome.
Mischievous pick gnomes have been the bane of guitar players on the Internet since this Ultimate Guitar forum post back in 2007. Apparently these small magical creatures are consumed with the desire to steal guitar picks and they will stop at nothing to do it. If gnomes are at the root of your trouble, you can publicly express your frustration and take a stand against the gnomes by liking I Hate Pick Gnomes on Facebook.
8. Did you check your pockets?
Your pockets are a perfect hiding place on the way to the dryer, the couch cushions, or worse. You can keep picks safe by checking your pockets!
9. It is taking a year off to “find itself”.
This is a big problem, especially among millenials. Picks these days!
10. It is hiding under the rug.
No one knows how picks get under rugs. Somehow, they just do.
11. It was a time-traveler from 1985.
Don’t grieve. It will be happier back in its own time. Besides, you don’t need a time-traveler hanging around your house, messing with the time space continuum.
12. It fell in love with a sock and ran away.
Socks and guitar picks are basically the peanut butter and jelly of lost objects. Since both disappear with alarming frequency, it makes sense that they would occasionally run off together.
13. You sat on it. It is stuck to the back of your leg.
The calls are coming from inside the house!!
Now that you’ve found your guitar picks, maybe you’d like to sharpen your skills by studying with a private guitar teacher. Search for your guitar teacher now!
Megan L.