col legno

[ koh leyn-yoh; Italian kawl le-nyaw ]

adverb

, Music.

1. (a direction to play a stringed instrument with the back of the bow rather than the hairs) with the wood.

col legno

/ ˈkɒl ˈleɡnəʊ; ˈleɪnjəʊ /

adverb

1. music to be played (on a stringed instrument) by striking the strings with the back of the bow

Word History and Origins

Origin of col legno¹

From Italian

Word History and Origins

Origin of col legno¹

Italian: with the wood

Example Sentences

Those textures — others come along, including percussive col legno and open fifths that flip steady ground into weightless suspension — glide among the instruments, a vocabulary ordered then reordered, always expressing a fresh thought.

From New York Times

In the finale, he engaged in a musical Simon Says, knocking on the back of his instrument and cuing the second violins to do the same, then setting up col legno tapping in the violas and high-pitched bird calls in the first violins.

From New York Times

It’s not something you want to describe using musical vocabulary; talking about col legno, the use of the wooden part of the bow to create a quiet, sexless sound, is less pertinent than comparing the experience of the piece to walking along a windswept seashore, looking at what the tide has exposed.

From Washington Post

The stage was drenched in red light as the band opened up with Burn the Witch, Jonny Greenwood using a bow on his electric guitar to approximate the nervy col legno strings that open the track.

From The Guardian

Col legno and other “extended techniques” are a familiar part of contemporary classical music.

From The Guardian