Pizzicato (pronounced /ˌpɪtsɪˈkɑːtoʊ/, from the Italian Italian ( italiano , or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken as a native language by about 70 million people in Italy, San Marino and parts of Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia and France. In addition, it is spoken by an additional 120 to 150 million people as a non-native language. Most native speakers are native bilinguals of both: pizzicato, roughly translated as plucked)[1] is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones. The most common string instruments in the string family are guitar, violin, viola, cello, double bass, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, and. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of stringed instrument.

Contents

History

The first known use of pizzicato in classical music is in Claudio Monteverdi Monteverdi's work, often regarded as revolutionary, marked the transition from the Renaissance style of music to that of the Baroque period. He developed two individual styles of composition: the new basso continuo technique of the Baroque and the heritage of Renaissance polyphony. Enjoying fame in his lifetime, he wrote one of the earliest operas,'s Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda is an operatic scena for three voices by Claudio Monteverdi, although many dispute how the piece should be classified. The piece has a libretto drawn from Torquato Tasso's La Gerusalemme Liberata ("Jerusalem Delivered", Canto XII, 52-62, 64-68), a Romance set against the backdrop of the First (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 Johann Georg Leopold Mozart was a composer, conductor, teacher, and violinist. Mozart is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule 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.

Use in various styles of music

In jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th century American popular music. Its West African pedigree and bluegrass Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and is a sub-genre of country music. It has roots in Scottish, English, Welsh[citation needed] and Irish traditional music. Bluegrass was inspired by the music of immigrants from the United Kingdom and Ireland , and African-Americans, particularly through genres such as jazz and blues. In, and the few popular music Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal", and stands in contrast to art music, and traditional music which was disseminated orally. Although popular music sometimes is known as "pop music", the "two terms are not interchangeable. Popular music is a generic term for music of all ages styles which use double bass (such as psychobilly Psychobilly is a fusion genre of rock music that mixes elements of punk rock, rockabilly, and other genres. It is one of several subgenres of rockabilly which also include thrashabilly, trashabilly, punkabilly, surfabilly, and gothabilly. Psychobilly is often characterized by lyrical references to science fiction, horror and exploitation films, and rockabilly The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music (often called hillbilly music in the 1940s and 1950s) that contributed strongly to the style's development. Other important influences on rockabilly include western swing, boogie woogie, and rhythm and blues. While there are notable exceptions,), pizzicato is the usual way to play the double bass The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, bass violin or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra. The double bass is a standard member of the string section of the symphony orchestra and smaller string ensembles in Western classical music. In addition, it is used in. This is unusual for a violin-family instrument, because regardless whether violin-family instruments are being used in jazz (e.g., jazz violin), popular, traditional (e.g., Bluegrass fiddle) or Classical music, they are usually played with the bow for most of a performance. In Classical double bass playing, pizzicati are often performed with the bow being held in the hand; as such, the string is usually only plucked with a single finger. In contrast, in jazz, bluegrass, and other non-Classical styles, the player is not usually holding a bow, so they are free to use two or three fingers to pluck the string.

In classical music Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 9th century to present times. The central norms of this tradition became codified between 1550 and 1900, which is known as the common practice period, however, string instruments are most usually played with the bow, and composers A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media[clarification needed]. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright[specify] and the give specific indications to play pizzicato where required. Pieces in classical music that are played entirely pizzicato include:

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed il Prete Rosso ("The Red Priest"), was a Venetian Baroque composer, priest, and famous virtuoso violinist. He was born and raised in the Republic of Venice. The Four Seasons, a popular series of four violin concerti, is his best-known work. His other compositions include over 500 instrumental concertos,, in the "Ah Ch'Infelice Sempre" section of his cantata Cessate, omai cessate, combined both pizzicato and bowed instruments to create a unique sound.

"Pizzicatto" or "Pizzi" or various forms thereof are also the names of numerous presets in music-producing programs and synthesizers, and the sound is becoming progressively more mainstream in modern hip-hop Hip hop is an artistic sub-culture that originated in the 1970s in the inner city Jamaican American, African American, and Latino American urban community of New York City. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of Hip-Hop Culture: MCing, DJing, b-boying, and graffiti writing. Other elements include beatboxing music.

Notation

In music notation Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols, a composer will normally indicate the performer should use pizzicato with the abbreviation pizz. A return to bowing is indicated by the Italian Italian ( italiano , or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken as a native language by about 70 million people in Italy, San Marino and parts of Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia and France. In addition, it is spoken by an additional 120 to 150 million people as a non-native language. Most native speakers are native bilinguals of both 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.

Bowed string instrument technique

Practical implications

If a string player The Violin family of musical instruments was developed in Italy in the sixteenth century. The violin family consists of the violin, viola, cello, double bass and Octobass has to play pizzicato for a long period of time, the performer may put down the bow. Violinists The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello. The double bass is often described as a member of the violin family, though its tuning and other characteristics share much with the viol and violists The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello may also hold the instrument in the "banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with, typically, four or five strings, which vibrate a membrane of plastic material or animal hide stretched over a circular frame. Primitive forms of the instrument were fashioned by enslaved Africans in Colonial America, adapted from several African instruments. There are several ideas on where the name banjo position" (resting horizontally 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 The guitar is a plucked string instrument, played either with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number but sometimes more, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with either nylon or steel strings, is called for in the 4th movement of Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (18 March [O.S. 6 March] 1844 – 21 June [O.S. 8 June] 1908)[a 1] was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.[a 2] He was a master of orchestration. His best-known orchestral compositions—Capriccio Espagnol, the Russian Easter Festival Overture, and the symphonic suite's Capriccio Espagnol (Scena e canto gitano), where the violins and cellos 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.

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 Niccolò Paganini was an Italian violinist, violist, guitarist, and composer. He was one of the most celebrated violin virtuosi of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His Caprice No. 24 in A minor, Op. 1 is among the best known of his compositions, and has served as an inspiration for many prominent 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 Henryk Wieniawski was a Polish violinist and composer, Berg Alban Maria Johanne Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique (Violin Concerto), Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (17 June [O.S. 5 June] 1882 – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor, widely acknowledged as one of the most important and influential composers of 20th century music. He was a quintessentially cosmopolitan Russian who was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people and of (Three Pieces for String Quartet) and many others.

One can also use the left hand fingers for pizzicato, either when they are not in use or as they are leaving their previous position. This allows the player to produce a faster run of pizzicato-like sounds by alternating between the finger and the bow, or in some cases using both at the same time. This is referred to as left-hand pizzicato (LHP) and the technique is used in Variation 9 of Caprice 24 by Paganini as well as in several parts of Zigeunerweisen by Pablo Sarasate. It is most commonly called for in violin solos, but it also appears in other string solos as well as orchestral parts.

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897), was a German composer and pianist, one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene. In his lifetime, Brahms' popularity and influence were considerable; following a comment 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.

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 Béla Viktor János Bartók (pronounced /ˈbɑrtɒk/ , Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈbeːlɒ ˈbɒrtoːk]) (March 25, 1881 – September 26, 1945) was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered to be one of the greatest composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as his country's greatest composer (Gillies 2001). Through pizzicato (or colloquially as "slapping In music, the term slapping is often used to refer to two different playing techniques used on the double bass and on the bass guitar" or "snap pizzicato"), after one of the first composers to use it extensively. Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer, he acted as a bridge between the 19th century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. While in his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, his own music gained wide famously employs a Bartok pizzicato in the third movement of his Seventh Symphony Gustav Mahler's Seventh Symphony was written in 1904-05 . It is sometimes referred to by the title Song of the Night (German: Lied der Nacht), though this does not derive from Mahler and was not approved by him, in which he provides the violins with the footnote 'pluck so hard that the strings hit the wood'. On the double bass The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, bass violin or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra. The double bass is a standard member of the string section of the symphony orchestra and smaller string ensembles in Western classical music. In addition, it is used in, this style of snap pizzicato, which is called "slapping", was used in jazz since the 1920s. Because an unamplified double bass is generally the quietest instrument in a jazz band, many players of the 1920s and 1930s used the slap style, slapping and pulling the strings so that they make a rhythmic "slap" sound against the fingerboard. The slap style cuts through the sound of a band better than simply plucking the strings, and allowed the bass to be more easily heard on early sound recordings, as the recording equipment of that time did not favor low frequencies.

Bartók also made use of pizzicato glissandi Prescriptive attempts to distinguish the glissando from the portamento by limiting the former to the filling in of discrete intermediate pitches on instruments like the piano, harp and fretted strings have run up against established usage of instruments like the trombone and timpani. The latter could thus be thought of as capable of either ', 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.

References

  1. ^ "Pizzicato". Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Cambridge University Press. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?dict=CALD&key=60336&ph=on. Retrieved on 2008-02-08.

Categories: Articulations | Musical performance techniques | Italian loanwords This category contains words borrowed from Italian, and other Italian words that may be seen in English texts

 

The above information uses material from Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other functional and useful document "free" in the sense of freedom: to assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it, with or without modifying it, either commercially or noncommercially. Secondarily, this License preserves for the author and publisher a.
Some facts may not have been fully verified for accuracy. [Disclaimers Wikipedia is an online open-content collaborative encyclopedia, that is, a voluntary association of individuals and groups working to develop a common resource of human knowledge. The structure of the project allows anyone with an Internet connection to alter its content. Please be advised that nothing found here has necessarily been reviewed by]
This page was last archived by our server on Sun Sep 5 07:53:34 2010. [ refresh local cache ]
Displaying this page or its contents does not use any Wikimedia Foundation's resources.
The owners of this site proudly support the Wikimedia Foundation.

[Hide]▼
[Hide]▲