Arco

Arco is Italian for ‘bow’. As a performance direction it instructs string players to play with the bow — most commonly used to cancel a previous pizzicato direction and return to normal bowing. The marking simply means ‘with the bow’.

In modern scores, arco is the default state of string playing. The marking only appears explicitly when needed to clarify a return to bowing after pizzicato. Without an arco indication, players continue with whatever technique they were using.

The direction is essential for clarity in passages that alternate between pizzicato and bowed playing. Composers may notate elaborate passages with frequent arco/pizz. shifts; players must read these carefully and execute the changes cleanly.

Italian, ‘bow’, from Latin arcus (‘bow, arch’).

Place the bow on the string before the marked note arrives. The transition from pizzicato to arco must be timed precisely — late or early, the change is audible and disruptive.