Editing Col legno (section)

== Sound ==
The percussive sound of battuto has a clear pitch element determined by the distance of the bow from the bridge at the point of contact. As a group of players will never strike the string in exactly the same place, the sound of a section of violins playing {{lang|it|col legno battuto}} is dramatically different from the sound of a single violin doing so.

The wood of the bow can also be drawn across the string – a technique called {{lang|it|col legno tratto}} ("with the wood drawn"). This is much less common, and the plain marking {{lang|it|col legno}} is invariably interpreted to mean ''battuto'' rather than ''tratto''. The sound produced by {{lang|it|col legno tratto}} is very quiet, with an overlay of white noise, but the pitch of the [[stopped note]] can be clearly heard. If the sound is too quiet, the bow can be slightly rolled so that a few bow hairs touch the string as well, leading to a slightly less "airy" sound.