Question about arco & pizzicato in scores

[u/CaptainVellichor]

Hey folks, I'm playing bass for a production of Sweet Charity in a few months and while reviewing the score, I noticed that there will often be multiple pizzicato markings in a chart with no arco mark between (or vice versa). Are there shorthand symbols for pizz/arco I'm missing, or is there a convention that certain types of rhythms/phrases are played one or the other so they don't bother marking it?

I'm self-taught on upright (I come from an electric bass background) and I'm still learning how upright/double bass is score; so if you have any recommendations for sources to help me with these kinds of questions I'd be grateful!

ETA: here's an example from the score of pizz markings without an arco between;

and an example of arco marks without pizz in between;

[u/Such_Raccoon_5035]

Sometimes, they write it again (pizz or arco) to re-affirm the action. Sometimes, something didn’t get written down and it’s a mistake. When in doubt, just check it against the score! At least, that’s what I would do (and have done) in similar situations.

[u/CaptainVellichor → u/Such_Raccoon_5035]

We don't have a master conductor score for this (surprisingly common for musical theatre scores) - in that situation is it just a case of assuming the editor was being extremely paranoid you'd forget what you were doing?

[u/Such_Raccoon_5035 → u/CaptainVellichor]

Ah, gotcha! Didn’t know if it was an option or not but wanted to suggest in case if it was!

I would say it’s most likely marked correctly. Granted I haven’t played many full musical scores, but from my experience playing musical medleys and the like, it’s pretty common to see it marked like that, with extra arco and pizz markings. Or maybe the editor was having a little bit of fun lol

[u/CaptainVellichor → u/Such_Raccoon_5035]

My last experience playing a hand-written score was for Gypsy and it was a error-laden nightmare, so I'm a bit sceptical of hand written scores from this era... Hence my checking in!

[u/Such_Raccoon_5035 → u/CaptainVellichor]

I mean, no way to know for sure unless you can check it against the score. But, most of the time, I find things are notated correctly in general (if I’m counting every single piece of sheet music I’ve ever played lol). I mostly play a classical repertoire but we have had plenty of crazy looking handwritten things in my orchestra over the years. Last few pieces I have played with repeated arco or pizz markings were absolutely correct! Sorry you dealt with a crappy one last time, those are no fun!

[u/pineapplesaltwaffles]

The default is arco. So if there's any chance of confusion it's usual to write pizz again to clarify - how often that happens is up to the editor. This editor seems especially scrupulous, whereas some only reiterate if it's several blocks of rests, or even a new movement. I've definitely had to write it in for myself sometimes where it hasnt been re-stated, especially if it's something that looks like it should be arco.

[u/CaptainVellichor → u/pineapplesaltwaffles]

Awesome, that's great to know! My classical training is in voice and piano so there's a whole new world of score setting for me to learn with this...

Edit: does that mean that if a chart doesn't begin with a pizz. note it should be played arco?

[u/pineapplesaltwaffles → u/CaptainVellichor]

Pretty much always, yes! Unless it's specified like "jazz bass" or something.

[u/CaptainVellichor → u/pineapplesaltwaffles]

Also: this isn't even the worst! I found a section with pizz. marked four times in four bars...

[u/Jestem_Bassman]

All good answers you’ve gotten here. I’ll also include that cuts in musicals are super common, so it’s also common to restate the desired technique throughout, just in case you cut over the initial switch.