Pizzicato

General remarks on Pizzicato :

Pizzicato is a playing technique whereby the player plucks the strings with the fingers rather than using the bow.

The sound produced by playing pizzicato is very different from that produced by bowing, as it is short and percussive rather than sustained.

In music notation, pizzicato is indicated by the abbreviation pizz, while a return to bowing is indicated by the Italian term arco.

There also exists the left-hand pizzicato, usually indicated by a small cross above the note.