Marcato in the context of bowed string instruments is an arco technique for playing such a stringed instrument, such as violin, viola, cello, and the double bass, also called contrabass, bass viol, or upright bass. Using the bow, one begins each note with a new attack, rather than continuing the motion of the bow from one note to the next, which is expression legato, or slurred . Marcato is not, however, staccato, as each note is still played for its entire duration.

The term, "marcato," as applied to other orchestral instruments, particularly winds, refers to a note articulation which combines the fortepiano or sforzando of the accented note with a note duration reduced to two-thirds of its written value (the other third being occupied by a rest); hence, in big-band jazz circles the ^ symbol for marcato, which appears above the note, is also known as a "jazz staccato." (A true staccato has a steady volume and a duration of half its written value; the other half is occupied by a rest.)

"Marcato" is also an Italian company that makes Pasta machines, of particular note is the all manual "Atlas" pasta maker, which is the standard to which all pasta machines are compared.