What does spiccato mean in music?

Bowing & articulation

Spiccato

Italian, "distinct, separated"

Spiccato is a controlled bouncing bow stroke in which the bow leaves the string between notes, producing short, light, clearly separated sounds.

Spiccato is found rather than forced: at a particular point on the bow, usually somewhat below the middle, varying with the instrument and the bow, the stick has a natural rebound, and the player drops into it and lets the bow do the bouncing. Trying to lift the bow deliberately for each note produces a laboured, uneven version that never gets fast.

The balance point moves with tempo. Faster passages need a spot closer to the frog with less bow hair engaged; slower, heavier spiccato moves toward the middle. When the tempo passes the point where a deliberate stroke is possible, spiccato becomes sautillé, where the wrist drives a small horizontal motion and the stick bounces on its own.

Composers frequently write spiccato passages with only staccato dots and a tempo marking, leaving the choice of stroke to the player, reading that context correctly is part of a string player's literacy.

Sautillé: Sautillé is a rapid bowing in which the bow bounces on its own from the natural springiness of the stick, used at tempos too fast for controlled spiccato.
Staccato: Staccato shortens a note, notated with a dot above or below the notehead, so it sounds for roughly half its written value and is followed by silence.
Martelé: Martelé is a strongly accented bow stroke that begins with a sharp bite of pressure, releases into a fast stroke, and stops on the string before the next note.
Bow hold: The bow hold is the way the right hand contacts the bow, a flexible, curved grip that lets the fingers absorb pressure changes rather than locking them out.

Every term in this glossary is taught in context somewhere in Arco's curricula, on the staff, on the keyboard, and on your own fingerboard at the same time.

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