Pizzicato

Pulgar Plucking for Classical Guitar

"Pizzicato - A light plucking staccato sound ..."

This technique, as the headline suggests, is performed on the guitar by using the thumb ("pulgar" in Spanish) to pluck the string. This is done whilst having the side (or "heel") of the hand that is doing the plucking resting on the string close the bridge of the guitar.

The whole effect is to try to mimic the sound on bowed instruments such as the violin and the thumb is used throughout, even on the treble strings of the guitar. The effect is a good clear pitch yet with a damped sound that has a resonant, even comical sound.

Here's a little video to highlight the technique and show you what it sounds like...

David Braid, writing in Play Classical Guitar, says of Pizzicato...

"Experiment to find the best hand position: if the note sounds too much like a dull thud with little pitch, the hand is too far to the left. Alternatively if the string is still ringing for a length of time, and the sound is similar to the usual tone, the hand is too far to the right..."

Sometimes you just have to move the heel of your hand around a little to get the perfect position but with a little practice and experience it's not that hard.

Good luck!

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