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Plucking the string with the finger instead of bowing. Abbreviated pizz.
Pizzicato produces a short, percussive, guitar-like tone on string instruments. Use it for rhythmic accompaniment, light comic effects, or stark textural contrast with bowed passages. Mark "arco" to return to bowing. Allow time for the switch — don't write pizz. and arco in rapid alternation without rests.
Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4, third movement (Pizzicato ostinato) — the entire string section plays pizzicato throughout, creating a sparkling, pointillistic texture.
Pizzicato is one of 228 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary, where every definition is written around how composers actually use the word.
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