{"id":17250,"date":"2022-07-05T13:28:31","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T11:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=168610"},"modified":"2022-07-05T14:01:22","modified_gmt":"2022-07-05T12:01:22","slug":"what-is-pizzicato","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/what-is-pizzicato\/","title":{"rendered":"What is pizzicato?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By BBC Music Magazine\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 05 July 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Pizzicato is an instruction for musicians playing stringed instruments, such as the violin. Often abbreviated to \u2018pizz\u2019 on a musical score, it indicates that musicians should use their fingers to pluck the strings, rather than play them using a bow.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pizzicato comes from the Italian word for \u2018pinched\u2019, and the technique results in individual notes having a staccato (detached) sound.<\/p>\n

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Examples of pizzicato<\/h2>\n

Perhaps one of the most famous pieces of pizzicato classical music is L\u00e9o Delibes\u2019s Pizzicati<\/em> from the ballet Sylvia. The string-plucking technique is used throughout the piece, which has featured in countless films, cartoons and TV programmes (often to accompany a character tip-toeing or sneaking about), so you\u2019re likely to recognise it, even if you weren\u2019t aware of the piece\u2019s title or origins.<\/p>\n