Left-Hand Pizzicato

What it is

Left-hand pizzicato is plucking the string with a finger of the left hand rather than the right. See the left hand section for everything related.

Its main advantage is that it allows plucking and bowing simultaneously, or plucking during a passage where the bow is occupied. Notes can be plucked while the bow continues on another string, producing effects impossible with right-hand pizzicato.

It is notated with a plus sign above the note.

How it is produced

A left-hand finger plucks the string sideways, usually by pulling it toward the palm.

The fourth finger is most commonly used, since the others are often occupied stopping notes. The third is also used.

The pluck is a sideways motion, not a lift. The finger catches the string and draws it laterally before releasing.

Force is limited by finger strength, which is why left-hand pizzicato is quieter than right-hand pizzicato and works best on open strings, which vibrate more freely.

On open strings and stopped notes

Open strings are the easiest and most common target. The string vibrates freely and the pluck produces a reasonable sound.

Stopped notes are possible: one finger stops the note while another plucks. This is considerably harder, requires significant finger independence, and produces a quieter result.

Most written left-hand pizzicato uses open strings, and composers who understand the instrument write it that way.

The combined effects

The reason the technique exists.

Bowing and plucking at once. The bow sustains a note on one string while a left-hand finger plucks another. This produces two simultaneous lines from one player.

Alternating rapidly. A passage alternates bowed and plucked notes faster than switching to right-hand pizzicato would allow.

Plucking during a bowed passage. A single plucked note interrupts a bowed line without the bow stopping.

These are display effects and are used as such. A passage combining bowed melody with plucked accompaniment is visually and aurally impressive.

What goes wrong

Insufficient volume. Left-hand pizzicato is quiet and a timid pluck produces nothing audible.

Damping. A finger left on the string after plucking damps the vibration. The plucking finger must clear.

Disturbing the left hand. The plucking motion pulls the hand out of position, so subsequent notes are out of tune. Practising this is easier with the free chromatic tuner.

Finger strength. The fourth finger is weak and the technique demands more from it than most other techniques do.

Timing. Coordinating a left-hand pluck with a bowed note on another string requires precise timing.

String noise. A careless pluck produces a buzz as the string contacts the fingerboard.

Where you meet it

Almost exclusively in virtuoso solo repertoire.

It is a display technique and composers use it where display is the intent, particularly in nineteenth-century showpieces.

Some contemporary writing uses it for its specific sound rather than for display.

Rare in orchestral parts and uncommon in chamber music.

Students meet it at the advanced level, and many players go through their careers encountering it only occasionally.

How it is taught

We start on open strings with the fourth finger, working purely on producing an audible pluck.

Then clearing the string so the note rings.

Then hand stability, checking that the left hand has not moved.

Then combining with the bow, slowly.

Then in repertoire.

It is a technique that improves with specific practice and does not develop incidentally. A student who wants it must work on it directly.

Why the fourth finger

The fourth finger is used because the others are usually occupied.

In most left-hand pizzicato passages, the first, second or third fingers are stopping notes while the fourth plucks. The fourth is also positioned furthest along the string, which suits reaching across to an adjacent open string.

The difficulty is that the fourth is the weakest finger, and left-hand pizzicato requires more strength from it than almost anything else.

Students working on the technique should expect to be working on fourth finger strength at the same time, and the two develop together.

Practising it

Open strings with the fourth finger, purely on volume. A pluck that cannot be heard is not yet the technique.

Then clearing the string so the note rings rather than being damped by the plucking finger.

Then hand stability, checked by playing a stopped note immediately after the pluck and testing whether it is in tune.

Then combining with the bow on another string, slowly.

Then the passage.

Progress is slow because finger strength develops slowly. Consistent short practice over months beats intensive short-term work.

The visual element

Left-hand pizzicato is partly a visual effect, and this is worth acknowledging rather than pretending otherwise.

A player bowing a melody while simultaneously plucking an accompaniment with the left hand is doing something an audience can see is difficult. Composers writing showpieces knew this.

That does not make the technique less legitimate, but it does explain where it appears. Music written to display a performer uses it; music written for other purposes generally does not.

A student encountering it should understand it as a display technique, which affects how it is presented in performance as much as how it is practised.

Work on left-hand work like Left-Hand Pizzicato where somebody can hear the difference. We run private and group violin lessons in Sugar Hill, Cumming and Dunwoody. Call 470-789-2422 to talk it through, or book a no-commitment evaluation lesson.