Editing Plectrum (section)

===Guitars and similar instruments ===
[[File:17 Assorted Guitar Picks.jpg|thumb|Assorted plectra for use with guitar]]
{{Main article|Guitar pick}}

A plectrum for [[electric guitar]]s, [[acoustic guitar]]s, [[bass guitar]]s and [[mandolin]]s is typically a thin piece of plastic or other material most commonly shaped like a pointed teardrop or triangle, though the size, gauge, shape and width may vary considerably. Banjo and guitar players may wear a metal or plastic thumb pick mounted on a ring, and bluegrass banjo players often wear metal or plastic [[fingerpick]]s on their fingertips. Many guitarists use fingerpicks as well.

Guitar picks are made of a variety of materials, including [[celluloid]], metal, and rarely other exotic materials such as turtle shell, but today [[delrin]] (a  synthetic [[thermoplastic]] polymer) is the most common.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} For other instruments in the modern day, most players use plastic plectra but a variety of other materials, including wood and [[felt]] (for use with the [[ukulele]]) are common. Guitarists in the [[Rock and roll|rock]], [[blues]], [[jazz]] and [[bluegrass music|bluegrass]] genres tend to use a plectrum, partly due to the use of steel strings wearing out the player's fingernails quickly, but also because a plectrum provides a more "clear", "focused" and "aggressive" sound. Many guitarists will also use the pick in combination with the remaining picking-hand fingers simultaneously, to combine the different advantages of flat-picking and [[finger picking]].  This technique is called ''[[hybrid picking]]'', or more colloquially in country & bluegrass genres, as chicken pickin'.

A plectrum of the guitar type is often called a pick (or a ''flatpick'' to distinguish it from fingerpicks).