This reflects what is probably the mainstream view; however, the builder Grant O'Brien has suggested that if cut properly, a quill plectrum will last indefinitely, and he mentions harpsichords from the historical period whose quills have lasted intact to the present. The correct form of voicing, O'Brien suggests, involves tapering, so that a plectrum will display constant curvature at the moment it is maximally displaced in plucking. "The use of raven feathers for quills in Neapolitan harpsichords". www.claviantica.com. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
The affiliation of "plectra" and "plectrums" with harpsichords and guitars, respectively, is vividly discussed by Guardian columnist James Fenton: Fenton, James (2007-10-13). "Keyboard words". The Guardian. ISSN0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
πλῆκτρον, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
Greek "πλῆκτρον" comes from the verb "πλήττω" or "πλήσσω" (plēssō), "to hit, to strike, to smite, to sting". πλήσσω, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
The affiliation of "plectra" and "plectrums" with harpsichords and guitars, respectively, is vividly discussed by Guardian columnist James Fenton: Fenton, James (2007-10-13). "Keyboard words". The Guardian. ISSN0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
