Jazz bass is played almost exclusively in pizzicato. Jazz pizzicato technique, shown above, is different from traditional pizzicato technique.

Pizzicato is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of an instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of stringed instrument: Image File history File links Jazzbass. ... Image File history File links Jazzbass. ... For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ... Side and front views of a modern double bass with a French bow. ...

• On bowed string instruments it is a method of playing by plucking the strings with the fingers, rather than using the bow. This produces a very different sound from bowing, short and percussive rather than sustained.
• On a keyboard string instrument, such as the piano, pizzicato may be employed (although rarely seen) as one of the variety of techniques involving direct manipulation of the strings known collectively as "string piano".
• On the guitar, it is a muted form of plucking, which bears an audible resemblance to pizzicato on a bowed string instrument with its relatively shorter sustain. For details of this technique, see palm mute.

A string instrument (also stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ... A cello bow In music, a bow is a device pulled across the strings of a string instrument in order to make them vibrate and emit sound. ... A short grand piano, with the top up. ... String piano is a term coined by American composer-theorist Henry Cowell to collectively describe those pianistic techniques in which sound is produced by direct manipulation of the strings, rather than by striking of the pianos keys. ... For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). ... The palm mute, also known as palm muting, is a playing technique for the guitar or (less commonly) bass guitar. ...

Use in various styles of music

In some forms of popular music, such as to fuck and wan and bluegrass, pizzicato is the usual way to play the double bass. In classical music, however, string instruments are most usually played with the bow, and composers give specific indications to play pizzicato where required. There are some pieces in classical music which are played entirely pizzicato, including the second movement of Benjamin Britten's Simple Symphony, the ninth movement of J.S. Bach's Magnificat, the third movement of Tchaikovsky's 4th symphony, and the fourth movement of Béla Bartók's String Quartet No. 4. Vivaldi, in his cantata Cessate, omai cessate, in the "Ah Ch'Infelice Sempre" part, combined both pizzicato and bowed instruments to create a unique sound. Popular music is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and are disseminated by one or more of the mass media. ... Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music which has its own roots in Irish, Scottish and English traditional music. ... Side and front views of a modern double bass with a French bow. ... Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH (November 22, 1913 Lowestoft, Suffolk - December 4, 1976 Aldeburgh, Suffolk) was a British composer, conductor, and pianist. ... “Bach” redirects here. ... Peter Ilich Tchaikovskys Symphony No. ... Béla Bartók in 1927 Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and collector of Eastern European and Middle Eastern folk music. ... The String Quartet No. ...

"Pizzicatto" or "Pizzi" or various forms thereof are also the names of numerous presets in music-producing programs/synthesizers, and the sound is becoming progressively more mainstream in modern hip-hop music. Crunk artist Lil Jon may be the most well-known producer to employ the sound. For other uses, see Hip hop (disambiguation). ... Crunk is a genre of hip-hop music. ... This biographical article or section needs additional references for verification. ...

History

The first known use of pizzicato in classical music is in Claudio Monteverdi's Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (around 1638), in which the players are instructed to use two fingers of their right hand to pluck the strings. Later, in 1756, Leopold Mozart in his Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule instructs the player to use the index finger of the right hand. This has remained the most usual way to execute a pizzicato, though sometimes the middle finger is used. The bow is held in the hand at the same time unless there is enough time to put it down and pick it up again between bowed passages. This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling. ... Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda is an operatic scena for three voices by Claudio Monteverdi. ... Leopold Mozart Johann Georg Leopold Mozart (November 14, 1719 – May 28, 1787) was a composer, music teacher and violinist. ...

Practical implications

If a string player has to play pizzicato for a long period of time, the performer may put down the bow. Violinists and violists may also hold the instrument in the "banjo position" (resting horizonally on the lap), and pluck the strings with the thumb of the right hand. This technique is rarely used, and usually only in movements which are pizzicato throughout. A technique similar to this, where the strings are actually strummed like a guitar, is called for in the 4th movement of Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol (Scena e canto gitano), where the violins are instructed to play pizzicato "quasi guitara"; the music here consists of three- and four-note chords, which are fingered and strummed much like the instrument being imitated. The Violin family of instruments was developed in Italy in the 17th Century. ... The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. ... The viola (French, alto; German Bratsche) is a bowed string instrument. ... For other uses, see Banjo (disambiguation) The banjo is a stringed instrument of African American origin adapted from several African instruments. ... For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). ... Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian: , Nikolaj Andreevič Rimskij-Korsakov), also Nikolay, Nicolai, and Rimsky-Korsakoff, (March 6 (N.S. March 18), 1844 – June 8 (N.S. June 21) 1908) was a Russian composer, one of five Russian composers known as The Five, and was later a... Capriccio espagnol, Op. ...

Other pizzicato techniques

Another colorful pizzicato technique used in the same Rimsky-Korsakov piece mentioned above is two-handed pizzicato, indicated by the markings m.s. and m.d. (for mano sinistra, left hand, and mano destra, right hand); here, the open E string is plucked alternately in rapid succession by the left and right hands.

It is also possible to execute a pizzicato with a finger of the left hand (the hand that normally stops the strings). This allows pizzicati in places where there would not normally be time to bring the right hand from or to the bowing position. This technique is quite rarely called for, but was used as a special effect by Niccolò Paganini in the 24th Caprice from his 24 Caprices, Op. 1. Left hand pizzicato is also used while bowed notes are being held, an effect appearing primarily in repertoire of the late 19th century and beyond. Examples of this technique can be found in the works of Wieniawski, Berg (Violin Concerto), Stravinsky (Three Pieces for String Quartet) and many others. Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (October 27, 1782 – May 27, 1840) was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist and composer. ... The final caprice of Nicolo Paganinis 24 Caprices is a famous work for solo violin. ... Henryk Wieniawski (July 10, 1835 Lublin, Poland - March 31, 1880 Moscow) was a Polish composer and violinist. ... Portrait of Alban Berg by Arnold Schoenberg, c. ... Alban Bergs Violin Concerto was written in 1935 (the score is dated August 11, 1935). ... Igor Stravinsky. ...

Johannes Brahms calls for slurred pizzicati in his Cello Sonata No. 2. This is achieved by playing one note, and then stopping a new note on the same string without plucking the string again. This technique (known as "hammering-on" to guitarists) is rarely used on bowed instruments. Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (May 7, 1833 – April 3, 1897) was a German composer of the Romantic period. ... There are many exercises that can be used to develop right and left hand technique on the classical guitar. ...

A further variation is a particularly strong pizzicato where the string is plucked vertically by snapping and rebounds off the fingerboard of the instrument. This is sometimes known as the Bartók pizzicato (or colloquially as "slapping" or "snap pizzicato"), after one of the first composers to use it extensively. Bartók also made use of pizzicato glissandi, executed by plucking a note and then sliding the stopping finger up or down the string. This technique can be heard in his Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, for example. Béla Bartók in 1927 Béla Viktor János Bartók (March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and collector of Eastern European and Middle Eastern folk music. ... In music, the term slapping is often used to refer to two different though related playing techniques on the double bass and on the (electric) bass guitar. ... Glissando (plural: glissandi) is a musical term that refers to either a continuous sliding from one pitch to another (a true glissando), or an incidental scale played while moving from one melodic note to another (an effective glissando). ... Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta is a piece of classical music by Béla Bartók. ...

Musical indications

In music notation, a composer will normally indicate the performer should use pizzicato with the abbreviation pizz. A return to bowing is indicated by the Italian term arco. A left hand pizzicato is usually indicated by writing a small cross above the note, and a Bartók pizzicato is often indicated by a circle with a small vertical line through the top of it above the note in question or by writing Bartók pizz. at the start of the relevant passage. Music notation is a system of writing for music. ...