String performance techniques

thumb|200px|Jazz bass walking bass lines are traditionally played with pizzicato; jazz pizzicato technique, shown above, is different from traditional pizzicato technique. thumb|Middle C, pizzicato Pizzicato (, ; translated as 'pinched', and sometimes roughly as 'plucked') is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of instrument:

thumb|upright=1.2|Tremolo notation (denoting rapid repetition) In music, tremolo (), or tremolando (), is a trembling effect. There are multiple types of tremolo. It is either the rapid repetition of a note, alternation between two different notes, or variation in volume.

thumb|Information on the scordatura of Rosary Sonata XI by [[Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber]] Scordatura (; literally, Italian for "discord", or "mistuning") is a tuning of a string instrument that is different from the normal, standard tuning. It typically attempts to allow special effects or unusual chords or timbre, or to make certain passages easier to play. It is common to notate the finger position as if played in regular tuning, while the actual pitch resulting is altered (scordatura notation). When all the strings are tuned by the same interval up or down, as in the case of the viola in Mo

string instrument technique

stringed instrument bow technique

vibrato and guitar technique

Spiccato is a bowing technique for string instruments in which the bow appears to bounce lightly upon the string. The term comes from the past participle of the Italian verb spiccare, meaning "to separate". The terms saltando and sautillé describe similar techniques.

playing two strings at once on a string instrument

artificial overtone on certain musical instruments

Bariolage is a musical technique used with bowed string instruments that involves rapidly playing alternated notes on adjacent strings, one of which is generally left open, thereby exploiting the different timbres of each string. Bariolage may involve quick alternation between a static note and changing notes that form a melody either above or below the static note. The static note is usually an open string note, which creates a highly resonant sound. In bluegrass fiddling the technique is known as "cross-fingering".

string performance technique

location of the hand on an instrument's neck