A viola being played col legno.col legno performed on a violin: 0 sec: battuto, 9 sec: tratto, 20 sec: ... with tremolo, 33 sec: ... with glissando, 48 sec: battuto with movement of the bow across the fingerboard
In music for bowed string instruments, col legno, or more precisely col legno battuto (Italian for 'with the wood [being hit]'; pronounced[kolˈleɲɲobatˈtuːto]), is an instruction to strike the string with the stick of the bow across the strings.