The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
pizzicato
(pt´´skä´t) (KEY) , in music, the technique of plucking the strings of an instrument that is usually bowed. Directions for playing pizzicato are found in early 17th-century music. Paganini introduced left-hand pizzicato, making it possible to play bowed tones and pizzicato tones simultaneously or in alternation.