CONTRASTING BOWED
AND PICKED INSTRUMENTS
If you have normally played a plucked string instrument, you
understand the normal life cycle of a note from a plucked
string. There is a very brief transient sound of the pick hitting
the string, then the string resonates for a relatively long time (on a
fretted instrument anyway) and gradually decays. You don't really
have much you can do to prolong the sound or to reverse the decaying
process.
Admittedly, a plucked string on an instrument with no frets decays much faster than on a n instrument with frets, because your fingers act as one end of the string and they will absorb some of the accoustical energy in the string and the sound will die out faster.
But on a bowed instrument, normally unfretted these days, every
instant during the life cycle of a note is controled by the motion of
the bow. You can make a note louder or softer while it is
sounding. And, whatever is going on in your bow arm is
immediately reflected in the quality of sound on that note you are
playing.
So, it's a very different situation in many ways between plucked and
bowed strings.