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How is balzato played?
Let the bow rebound between short notes and use the elasticity of the stick, hair and string to sustain a light sequence. Several Italian and technical sources place balzato close to spiccato, while conservatory classifications may list balzato, spiccato and gettato separately. Read the score’s slurs and bowings: unlike gettato or ricochet, balzato does not by itself require several rebounds in one thrown bow.
How does balzato sound?
Light, springing and bouncing articulation.
In context
Balzato belongs to the family of bouncing bow strokes. The University of Modena explains it through the bow’s natural elasticity; an IRCAM/IDMIL comparison groups balzato with back-and-forth spiccato and separates it from one-throw ricochet. Because terminology varies between schools, write balzato out and do not promote spiccato, sautillé, ricochet, saltando, jeté or gettato to universal equivalents.