plectrum

In music, a device for plucking a string instrument. For a guitar or lute, it may be worn on the finger, as a substitute fingernail; others are held between two fingers, for example to play the mandolin. The harpsichord employs mechanical plectra of quill or leather to pluck the strings.

Most plectra are hard, but soft felt plectra are also used to ease abrasion of the ball of the finger. A plucked sound can be simulated on a synthesizer by programming an instantaneous or rapid onset, followed by a rapid decay and longer reverberation.