In music for bowed string instruments, ( , , translated roughly as 'with the wood') is an instruction to use the stick of the bow to make contact with the strings, rather than the string or hair of the bow, which is how bowed string instruments are usually played.Cambridge Dictionary Col legno The sound created from playing col legno is considerably different from the regular arco bowing, with an audibly distinct timbre.String Section Col Legno. Retrieved April 2026
Col legno is largely associated with the avant-garde genre, despite having been used since the classical and baroque periods. Composers that have used col legno in their works include Gustav Holst, Louis-Hector Berlioz, and Camille Saint-Saëns; usually to create threatening or macabre sounds, due to the coarse sound of col legno (especially battuto). It is considered an extended technique for bowed string instruments, mainly in an orchestral context, so being played on violin, viola, violoncello, and double bass.Malone, Seth (24 April 2026). "The Strad" The sound of lamenting: strings in new sound worlds. Retrieved 26 April 2026
Col legno is performed by rotating the stick so it touches the strings. There are two primary variants of col legno:"Tonebase" What is Col Legno on the Violin? Col Legno Tratto And Col Legno Battuto Compared battuto (the most common technique) is the action of percussively hitting the strings, and tratto is the action of bowing across the strings using the wood.Lizzy Welsh, Col legno battuto, col legno tratto. Retrieved 9 Apr 2026 There are, however, various other forms used in experimental music, combining col legno with other techniques.
Usage Early usage The earliest known use of in Western music is found in a piece entitled "Harke, harke" from the First Part of Ayres (1605) by Tobias Hume. He instructs the gambist to "drum this with the [back] of your bow".Peter Walls, "Bow" II. Bowing, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001): §2, xi. Another early usage was in Capriccio Stravagante, a 1627 chamber piece by Carlo Farina, where he notes "here one strikes the strings with the wood of the bow," implying col legno.
The earliest usage of the term col legno in a piece's manuscript was in Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber's La Battalia Sinfonia (1673IMSLP Battalia à 10 (Biber, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von)). In an attempt to portray the sounds of battle, he uses percussive effects in the string section, including col legno.Music Practice & Theory The earliest known use or indication of "col legno". Retrieved April 2026 From there, the technique gained prominence and became standard through integration in the classical period and even more so in the 19th and 20th centuries, as composers recognised the capacity of col legno to enrich the string sound palette.
Other notable usages
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 'Turkish' Violin Concerto No. 5, imitating a percussive drone in Turkish music.Boston Baroque "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major, K. 219" Col legno usage Franz Joseph Haydn, Symphony No. 67, where at the end he comically repeats the opening phrase col legno.Haydn107 Sinfoniae "Symphony No. 67 in F major". Retrieved April 2026Haydn: Symphony No. 67 in F major Archived October 2013, retrieved April 2026 Fryderyk Chopin, Piano Concerto No. 2, mimicking a mazurka in the third movement (Allegro Vivace).Houston Symphony Poetry in Motion: Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Retrieved April 2026MusicWeb: Chopin Piano Concerto No. 2. Retrieved April 2026 Louis-Hector Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique, mimicking the sound of skeletons dancing.MuseCool "Historical Background and Use". Retrieved April 2026 Camille Saint-Saëns, Danse Macabre, imitating the rattling of skeleton bones.Classical Voice "Legno" – col legno. Retrieved April 2026 Gustav Holst, The Planets Suites first movement—the strings play an ostinato rhythm in unison, adding an unsteady menace to the beginning of the piece.The Music Workshop Company Holst, "Mars" from The PlanetsOrchLab Listening Guide – ‘Mars’ from The Planets. Retrieved April 2026Hoffmann, Robin. Col Legno on Strings. Retrieved April 2026BBC Ten Pieces "Mars" from The Planets (Holst)
Igor Stravinsky, The Firebird, adding the illusion of depth and breadth to The Firebird's Pleading.Houston Symphony The Ultimate Russian Fairytale: Stravinsky’s The Firebird. Released August 2019, retrieved April 2026 Dmitri Shostakovich, Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad", producing an effect of distance or peace, in combination with pizzicato and arco strings in the first movement.MusicWeb: Shostakovich Symphony No. 7 Leninagrad. Retrieved April 2026IMSLP p. 17. Score of Symphony No. 7, courtesy of the International Music Score Library Project. Retrieved April 2026 Dmitri Shostakovich, Symphony No. 11, portraying martial and violent imagery. Sergei Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 3, adding a brittle undertone during a virtuosic piano cadenza in the third movement.Houston Symphony Russian Romance: Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Retrieved April 2026Nobuyuki Tsujii Internation Fans "7 Pianists! Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2 vs No. 3". Retrieved 16 April 2026
Variations of col legno String players can make the bow wood interact with the strings in multiple ways. All of the following variants of col legno can be used alongside sul ponticello, sul tasto, and be played behind the bridge (sub ponticello).
Battuto Col legno battuto is the most common form of col legno.The Modern Double Bass Col legno battuto Battuto involves striking the wood of the bow onto the strings, creating a percussive effect.Musicca Col legno definitions Battuto is said to be more effective and characteristic in the lower registers of the string section, since in higher registers the tone of the note being played battuto is usually negated, only leaving the percussive 'click' sound.
Technique To perform , the bow is rotated so that the wooden stick of the bow faces (and so can strike) the strings.The Study of Orchestration SCRIBD Sul Ponticello and Col Legno techniques. Retrieved April 2026Yamaha Music "Eight Spooky String Techniques". Retrieved April 2026 The contact point of the bow to the strings is typically closer to the middle of the bow; neither nearer the tip nor the frog. The action of striking the string is rhythmic and similar to a drumming action, not held onto the string for long.
Sound Distinctly dry, percussive, and sometimes ghostly,"Violin Lounge" The Complete Guide to Violin Bowing Techniques: From Beginner to Advanced the sound made by the 'click' of battuto has a clear pitch element determined by the distance of the bow from the bridge at the point of contact, however the pitch of the stopped note is rarely definite or audible. As a group of players will never strike the string in exactly the same place, the sound of a section of strings playing is dramatically different from the sound of a single string instrument doing so.Musical How Violin Bowing Techniques List The timbre of battuto is unique and subtle, as there is no percussion instrument that can readily reproduce its accented sound."Young Composers" Orchestration: Techniques of Strings - Part I
Tratto Col legno tratto is a much rarer version of col legno; so much so that Gustav Mahler included a note in the third movement of his First Symphony: "No mistake! to be stroked with the wood". Tratto also occurs in many works of the Second Viennese School, such as Anton Friedrich Wilhelm von Webern's Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 7,IMSLP Score of Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, courtesy of the International Music Score Library Project. Notates tratto as "col legno (gerissen)", 'gerissen' meaning 'ripped' (German). Retrieved April 2026 Alban Berg's Lyric Suite,Marc Bridle, "Seen and Heard" Berg, Lyric Suite & Schubert. Retrieved April 2026 and Arnold Schoenberg's Moses und Aaron,Boulezian. Commentary of "Moses and Aron," retrieved April 2026 as well as other more contemporary and avant-garde pieces.
Technique Executing tratto is similar to executing battuto, in that the contact is still between the wooden part of the bow and the strings, however in tratto the bow is dragged—or 'painted'Term 'painting' retrieved from: Dangas, Philip Instrumentation for symphonic world music "Description and application of the playing technique col legno tratto". Retrieved 13 April 2026—across the strings.Andrew Hugill, The Orchestra: A User's Manual. Retrieved April 2026 Control of the bow speed and pressure is critical for sound clarity and consistency whilst playing tratto, but intonation of the stopped note is considered to be 'of secondary importance'.
Sound The sound produced by is very quiet and muted, with white noise,Ashely John Long, "The Modern Double Bass" Col legno tratto - half tratto. Retrieved 11 April 2026 and is sometimes used to create eerie sounds, but the pitch of the stopped note can be clearly heard amongst the 'scratching'. The sound is sometimes considered to be too quiet or 'airy' in a performance setting.
Half tratto Half tratto is a version of col legno tratto involving bowing with half of the bow hair and half of the bow stick.Violin Lounge 20 Orchestral Violin Bowing Techniques. Retrieved April 2026 This can be used to transition between col legno tratto and arco, as well as during a standalone passage.Half battuto is also sometimes used, following the principles of half tratto, but playing battuto instead.
In pure col legno, the bow hair is not used, but the edge of the hair can be allowed to contact the string along with the wood so that a more discernable pitch can be heard in the col legno colour.SCRIBD Bowing and Pizzicato Terms
Technique Half tratto is achieved by, instead of turning the bow 180 degrees (so that the wood directly faces the strings), it turned at a slighter angle (around 90 degrees). This allows both the hair and the wood to make contact with the string in part.
Sources conflict as to whether the rotation of the bow is with the hair facing the player or with the wood facing the player.
Sound Since both the wood and hair make contact with the string in half tratto, the sound made is clearer and louder than when playing fully tratto. For this reason, players often use half tratto to project more in performance. Half tratto also creates a distinct timbre to regular bowing, as well as a clear pitch.
Gettato Col legno gettato''' is essentially a combination of the technique ricochet or jeté with col legno battuto. This technique is used to play several notes in quick succession in one bow stroke; usually this is several reiterations of the same pitch, instead of a melodic line."Weebly" Extended Techniques on Cello Although the bounce of regular col legno battuto does give a similar 'quasi-jeté' sound, gettato is distinct in its repetitive nature. Col legno gettato is exceptionally uncommon, found only in extended, experimental, or modern repertoire.
Technique The technique to execute gettato is exactly the same to that of ricochet only with the bow's wood facing the strings. The bow is lightly tossed against the strings and allowed to bounce, producing several reiterations of pitch."The Modern Double Bass" Col legno gettato — Technical Practice Gettato is primarily executed on the bow's upper third for smoother down-bowing. The speed and height of the bounce can be adjusted by the pressure of the index finger and where the bow first makes contact with the string: closer to the frog of the bow for slower bounces and towards the middle or tip for quicker ones. Gettato is applied when groups of pitches after an initial attack are grouped together—the notation for this is a slur over the repeated notes, or a tremolo under battuto.
Sound