Pizzicato: A note marked pizz. in the written music is to be played by plucking the string with a finger of the right hand rather than by bowing. Sometimes in virtuoso solo music where the bow hand is occupied, left-hand pizzicato will be indicated by a "+" below or above the note. In left-hand pizzicato, two fingers are put on the string; one is put on the correct note, and the other is put above the note. The higher finger then plucks the string while the lower one stays on, thus producing the correct pitch. By increasing the force of the pluck, one can increase the volume of the note that the string produces.

Col legno: A marking of col legno in the written music calls for striking the string(s) with the stick of the bow, rather than by drawing the hair of the bow across the strings. This bowing technique is somewhat rarely used, and results in a muted percussive sound. The eerie quality of a violin section playing col legno is exploited in some symphonic pieces, notably the "Witches' Dance" of the last movement of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. Saint-Saens' symphonic poem "Danse Macabre" includes the string section using the col legno technique to imitate the sound of dancing skeletons.