(It.: ‘on the bridge’; Fr. au chevalet; Ger. am Steg).
In string playing, an instruction to bow close to (or even on) the bridge of the instrument (see Bow, §II, 2(xi) and 3(xii)). This encourages the higher harmonics, producing a thin, nasal, glassy sound (see Acoustics, §II, 7). Notable examples include the opening scene of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, the ‘Marche au supplice’ in Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique and several passages in Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire and the string quartets of Bartók.