col
An Italian preposition meaning "with the" (masculine singular), used in numerous performance directions to indicate a technique or pairing.
In Depth
Col (a contraction of con + il) appears in many compound performance directions: "col legno" (with the wood — strike strings with the wooden part of the bow), "col arco" (with the bow — resume bowing after pizzicato), and "col canto" (with the voice/melody — follow the soloist's tempo). It is one of the most versatile connecting words in musical Italian, linking a technique to whatever follows.
In orchestral scores, "col" is frequently used as shorthand for doubling: "col violino I" means "play the same as first violin." This saves the composer and copyist from writing out identical parts. The related forms "colla" (feminine singular), "coi" (masculine plural), and "colle" (feminine plural) also appear, though "col" is by far the most common. Understanding this simple preposition unlocks dozens of performance directions that might otherwise seem cryptic to non-Italian speakers.
Col legno — striking strings with the wood of the bow — was considered so disrespectful to the instrument that some orchestral musicians historically refused to do it, using pencils instead.