Traditional musicians in northern India originally fashioned coconut picks to play the Sarod, a fretless multi-string relative of the sitar and rebab. In recent years, picks have been reduced in size, and many modern sarod players have abandoned coconut picks in favor of new, more compact ebony or rosewood-based picks.
European and American musicians traveling to India in the sizes brought these unique pick choices back with them, and soon guitarists discovered that they made superb jazz picks! The sound they produced was full and rich, and infinitely louder than that produced by celluloid, nylon - or even a tortoiseshell pick.
