If a teacher instructs a student to produce sound by using the wood of the bow rather than the hair, which term is used?

If a teacher instructs a student to produce sound by using the wood of the bow rather than the hair, which term is used?

• A. Loure
• B. Col legno
• C. Detache
• D. Staccato

Answer: (B)

Col legno means “with the wood,” and it tells the player to use the wooden part of the bow against the strings. When you’re instructed to produce sound with the wood rather than the hair, you’re applying the battuto form of this technique, striking the strings with the wood to create a sharp, percussion-like texture that stands out from the typical bowed tone. This is different from detache, which uses the regular bow hair to produce clear, separate notes; loure, a smooth, lightly pulsed legato; and staccato, which is short and detached. So the term used is col legno, indicating the wood-on-string approach.

Col legno means “with the wood,” and it tells the player to use the wooden part of the bow against the strings. When you’re instructed to produce sound with the wood rather than the hair, you’re applying the battuto form of this technique, striking the strings with the wood to create a sharp, percussion-like texture that stands out from the typical bowed tone. This is different from detache, which uses the regular bow hair to produce clear, separate notes; loure, a smooth, lightly pulsed legato; and staccato, which is short and detached. So the term used is col legno, indicating the wood-on-string approach.