# Pizzicato Notation



## AJVMusic

I'm currently working on transcribing some orchestral music and there are a couple of variations of pizzicato in the bass that I'm not too familiar with. There are standard eighth-notes marked pizz. but later there are half-notes tied to a half-rest marked pizz. Is there any difference in the technique used to play these variations?


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## Torkelburger

If the composer wanted them played the same, they sure did a bad job of communicating that. As it's notated, the second variation (the eighth notes) indicates the plucked strings' vibrations need to be cut short and stopped by the right hand because of the eighth rests. Otherwise, if the composer wants the notes to ring and stop naturally they would have written the notes as quarter notes. Even though the notes are high and won't last as long as the low Db, I believe they will still need to be cut short in order to perform the written rhythm. That's my take on it anyway.


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## CyrilWashbrook

They would inevitably be played differently. Pizzicato can vary significantly depending on a range of factors. From a technical standpoint, both right and left hands can be used to change the "colour" of the sound.

For example - and the details will differ depending on the context, which we cannot see - you would expect in the first case to see slow and wide vibrato to sustain the sound. The motion of the plucking finger would probably be relatively deliberate, the wrist may be doing more work and there would be more of a natural "follow-through" with the hand.

In the second case the plucking finger would be reacting more quickly and the vibrato (if any) would likely be faster. The desired articulation would be created by left hand technique and/or the choice of initial plucking motion.



Torkelburger said:


> As it's notated, the second variation (the eighth notes) indicates the plucked strings' vibrations need to be cut short and stopped by the right hand because of the eighth rests. Otherwise, if the composer wants the notes to ring and stop naturally they would have written the notes as quarter notes. Even though the notes are high and won't last as long as the low Db, I believe they will still need to be cut short in order to perform the written rhythm. That's my take on it anyway.


Maybe I've just been playing wrongly for the last 18 years, but I'm scratching my head at this explanation. As it stands, the notion of using the right hand to physically stop the string and truncate the vibration would not even cross my mind when looking at the second image. I could only imagine doing so if there were an instruction on the score saying "stop the vibration by resting the right hand on the string after exactly half a beat".


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## Guest

When I pizz, I use my fingering hand if it's just a few notes in an otherwise bowed piece--what in guitar and banjo are known as "pulling off." Jazz is a different story, of course, since you're plucking through the whole piece or most of it in which case I use my right hand to pluck.

Upon re-reading that first sentence I wrote it certainly wasn't how I intended it to sound but there you go.


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## Proms Fanatic

Victor Redseal said:


> When I pizz, I use my fingering hand...


This made me giggle.


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## Vasks

As Torkelburger says, the eighth rests must be interpreted as demanding silence; otherwise it's poorly notated if the eighth notes are suppose to sustain through the rests.


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