Pizzicato
Plucking the string instead of bowing it
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Pizzicato is playing a string instrument by plucking with the fingers instead of bowing, marked pizz., with arco to return to the bow. It turns the strings from a sustained sound into a decaying point — drier, shorter, more grained.
It is not "just a pluck": where the finger plucks, how soft it is, and how far from the bridge all change the colour. In the orchestra pizzicato usually does one of two jobs — a light accompaniment under a melody, or a sudden moment of suspense (the "Tortoise" in *The Carnival of the Animals*, say). In jazz, the plucked double bass has become a voice of its own.
Read deeper → Articulation Marks
Sources
- pizzicato 的演奏方式与记谱，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Pizzicato"；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.