The Unruly Strings

By Jorge Caballero

I have been asked why I don’t trim the end of my strings many times. Other times, I have simply been told to trim them. I won’t.

For me, there is a practical reason why: it reduces the amount of time I spend on changing strings, which in turn increases my study time. But I have a deeper reason for not trimming them: I enjoy looking at them. Every time I look at them they are beautifully different. Sometimes they are neatly aligned, while sometimes they get in the way, and swatting them aside while in the midst of playing makes me smile.

The seeming randomness of their configuration also reminds me of entropy: without intervention, any organized system will steer toward chaos. Working with music feels that way: the sounds a guitar produce sway constantly toward disarray. It is the hands that through devotion and discipline bring order to it, and along with that order, beauty. These spikes made of nylon and silver lying at the boundary of pitch serve me as a reminder that the work never ceases. In fact, it will outlast me.