Plectrum small piece of hard A"guitar pick" or"plectrum" is a material generally held between the thumb and first finger of the picking hand and is used to"pick" the strings. Though most classical players pick with a combination of and fleshy fingertips, the pick is most often u for electric and steel-string acoustic guitars. Though today they are mainly plastic, variations do exist, such as bone, wood, steel or tortoise shell. Tortoise shell was the most commonly used material in the early days of pick-making, of using their for but as tortoises and turtles the practice shells are picks or anything else was banned. Tortoise-shell picks made before the ban has often coveted for a supposedly superior tone and ease of use, and their scarcity made them valuable.