Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange
Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [pizzicato]

Pizzicato is a string instrument technique that involves plucking a string.

Pizzicato is a string instruments technique that involves plucking on a string with a finger, instead of using the bow.

Regular pizzicato is marked on a score with abbreviation "pizz.", and cancelled (return to regular bowing) with "arco".

Left-hand pizzicato is usually indicated with a "+" above the note.

A Bartók pizzicato (or snap pizzicato) is played by pulling the string away from the instrument, such that when released the string snaps down onto the fingerboard. This is marked by a circle with a small line at the top placed above the note.

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Why does plucked and bowed string of violin produces slightly different pitches?

I know that when plucked as in pizzicato, the violin produces a muted sound. However, I was surprised to find out when I checked with my tuner that if I tune my violin by plucking, it seems somewhat flat when I double check it by bowing! So there's…
Sazid Ahmad
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How can I create a tie or slur that goes to nothing in MuseScore 3 (let ring notation)?

I am transcribing the string bass part from a piece we are playing in Concert Band. It has numerous "let ring" notes, pizzicato with ties or slurs going to open space. How can I do this in MuseScore 3? (I have the latest version as of yesterday, OS:…
William Brohinsky
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How to pluck fast 16th notes on cello

I play the cello, and in my orchestra group, we are playing The Planets by Holst. There is a passage with about 20 bars of 16th notes, at about quarter note = 120. They are played pizzicato on the open G string. Each time I try, I'm not able to…
margalo
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Double stopping pizzicato on the violin

So recently I watched a video on double stopping on the violin, you can watch it here. In the video when she started to play pizzicato and hit those two notes, she hit them one after another, sort of like what you would do in an arpeggio. So my…
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Pizzicato notation

I'm trying to figure out what (if any) norms apply to notation for pizzicato. As explained here, we have: Do we not have any symbols used to indicate right-hand pizzicato? I have only seen it written out with the abbreviation "pizz" which, to…
feetwet
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How is pitch controlled when executing a left-hand pizzicato on a violin?

My understanding of how a violin works is: the left hand controls the pitch by pressing down on a certain position on the string. This changes the length of the vibrating section and therefore pitch. The right hand controls the duration and dynamics…
kevin
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What does it mean when the same note with the same length is on the same stem for the same instrument?

In Ravel's "Bolero" the violas play a repeated pattern in pizzicato that grows more and more complex. The second form, however, beginning at m. 21, has a notation that puzzles me. The middle notes show the same note being played at the same time…
Szandor
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Violin pizzicato with other fingers

Usually, chords on the violin played using pizzicato are done using the index finger. In this recording by Perlman of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, however, he is shown to play the three successive pizzicato chords at the start of the third…
borndeft
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Can you actually play pizzicato with regular bowed notes ( at the same time )?

In the beginning of this video it looks like the player is actually pizzicatoing with the left-hand and playing regular notes on a different string, is that what is happening? Is that even a thing?
Neil Meyer
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Can left-hand pizzicato be balanced between open and stopped strings?

When I attempt left-hand pizzicato on an open string I get a resonance that is so loud compared to muted sound I can get with left-hand pizz on a stopped string that if played in the same passage the latter sounds like a mistake – if it can be heard…
feetwet
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Other strings vibrating when playing pizzicato on Violin

When playing pizzicato on the Violin (specifically on the A and E strings), I hear the D string vibrate as well, even when I don't touch it. This causes the notes I actually play to sound a bit weird sometimes and it annoys me. Why does this happen,…
mdlp0716
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Why is the D string so loud compared the other strings on Violin (when doing pizzicato)?

I'm working on trying to play chords and such on a violin as if it were a guitar or another stringed instrument, but I noticed when I play chords (like the G chord), the open D note rings out and is much louder than the other, more dominant notes in…
mdlp0716
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Anyone know how to get Sibelius to playback pizzicato at a softer dynamic level without writing the dynamic ridiculously soft?

Sibelius playback of pizzicato is much louder than arco for strings. I end up making two copies of a score. One with the dynamics as they should be written for pizzicato for printing and another copy with the pizzicato sections being written at pp…
Dell Wade
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Is pizzicato louder than finger picking?

Is pizzicato on a violin family instrument louder than finger picking an acoustic guitar? It seems that way, since those instruments are played in large concert halls that a guitar would probably need an amplifier for. And if it's true, what is the…
user46580
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Violin bowing techniques

Okay, so I was about to use a violin for my next composition but I would have plans on using pizzicato and legato. But is it possible for one to notate pizzicato in some parts and then notate legato in the same piece, same instrument?
Isaac Yang Hao Tung
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