Editing Col legno

{{Short description|Using the wood backing of a bow to hit the strings of an instrument}}
{{distinguish|Collegno}}
{{Italic title}}
[[File:Col legno violin.jpg|thumb|A violin being played {{lang|it|col legno}}.]]
[[File:col legno violin.ogg|thumb|right|{{lang|it|col legno}} performed on a violin:<br />
0 sec: [[battuto]],<br />
9 sec: tratto,<br />
20 sec: ... with [[tremolo]],<br />
33 sec: ... with [[glissando]],<br />
48 sec: battuto with movement of the bow across the fingerboard]]
In music for [[bowed string instrument]]s, '''{{lang|it|col legno}}''', or more precisely {{langnf|it|'''col legno battuto'''|with the wood [being hit]|paren=left}}; {{IPA|it|kol ˈleɲɲo batˈtuːto|pron}}), is an instruction to strike the string with the stick of the bow across the strings.

== History ==
The earliest known use of {{lang|it|col legno}} in Western music is to be found in a piece entitled "Harke, harke", from the ''First Part of Ayres'' (1605) by [[Tobias Hume]], where he instructs the [[gambist]] to "drum this with the backe of your bow".<ref>Peter Walls, "Bow" II. Bowing, ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by [[Stanley Sadie]] and [[John Tyrrell (professor of music)|John Tyrrell]] (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001): §2, xi.</ref>

== 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.

== Equipment ==
Some string players object to {{lang|it|col legno}} playing as it can damage the bow; many players have a cheaper bow which they use for such passages, or for pieces which require extended passages.<ref>Blatter, A.: "Instrumentation and Orchestration", page 37. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 1997</ref> Some players tap the strings with pencils instead of bows, producing a further percussive, lighter sound.<ref>{{cite book | last= Strange | first= Patricia | author2= Allen Strange | title= The Contemporary Violin: Extended Performance Techniques| year= 2001| location= Berkeley | publisher= University of California Press | page=108 |isbn= 978-1-4616-6410-9}}</ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Extended techniques}}
{{Violin family}}
{{Commons category}}

[[Category:Extended techniques]]
[[Category:String performance techniques]]
[[Category:Italian words and phrases]]
[[Category:Wood]]

[[da:Col legno]]