I've been playing a lot of orchestral repertoire recently that has directed me to play "col legno" (for those that don't know what this means, it indicates that you should play with the wood of the bow rather than the hair). However, the string can chip the varnish or the wood, and every conductor I've come across has said "Don't use your best bow for this!"

However, I only have one decent bow (my spare is rather bashed and in desperate need of a rehair which I can't afford at the moment) and I'm a bit worried as to what's going to happen to it if I keep using it for the col legno passages. I don't want to have to buy a new one!!

Any thoughts/advice would be much appreciated.

If you have time to put down one and pick up the other both before and after the col legno, the lack of hair on the spare doesn't matter.

QUOTE (kenm @ Nov 27 2004, 03:21 PM)

If you have time to put down one and pick up the other both before and after the col legno, the lack of hair on the spare doesn't matter.

Clever!! I didn't think of that! Thanks!

I think "col legno" in an amateur orchestra is quite a good barometer of how respected the composer is by the string players. I certainly remember one particular piece by a local composer which didn't quite fire the imagination and received a notably half-hearted "col legno" episode.