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29-425: Standard notation indicates legato either with the word legato , or by a slur (a curved line) under notes that form one legato group. Legato, like staccato , is a kind of articulation. There is an intermediate articulation called either mezzo staccato or non-legato (sometimes referred to as portato ). In music for Classical string instruments , legato is an articulation that often refers to notes played with

58-490: A full bow , and played with the shortest silence, often barely perceptible, between notes. The player achieves this through controlled wrist movements of the bowing hand, often masked or enhanced with vibrato . Such a legato style of playing can also be associated with portamento . In guitar playing (apart from classical guitar) legato

87-399: A note but on a plucked string. Many guitar virtuosos are well-versed in the legato technique, as it allows for rapid and "clean" runs. Multiple hammer-ons and pull-offs together are sometimes also referred to colloquially as "rolls," a reference to the fluid sound of the technique. A rapid series of hammer-ons and pull-offs between a single pair of notes is called a trill . Legato on guitar

116-476: A note by playing the string harder and with more attack creating a louder sound. Occasionally, articulations can be combined to create stylistically or technically correct sounds. For example, when staccato marks are combined with a slur, the result is portato , also known as articulated legato. Tenuto markings under a slur are called (for bowed strings) hook bows. This name is also less commonly applied to staccato or martellato (martelé) markings. Apagados (from

145-530: A piece requires. When writing electronic and computer music , composers can design articulations from the ground up. In addition to the following instructions given by composers, performers choose how to articulate the events of a score independently, in accordance with their interpretation of it. Until the 17th century , it was rare to mark articulations in a score, and even during the Baroque period they were uncommon apart from ornaments, leaving them up to

174-472: Is a form of musical articulation . In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and has appeared in music since at least 1676. In 20th-century music, a dot placed above or below a note indicates that it should be played staccato, and a wedge is used for the more emphatic staccatissimo . However, before 1850, dots, dashes, and wedges were all likely to have

203-460: Is commonly associated with playing more notes within a beat than the stated timing, i.e., playing 5 (a quintuplet ) or 7 (a septuplet) notes against a quarter-note instead of the usual even number or triplet. This gives the passage an unusual timing and when played slowly an unusual sound. However, this is less noticeable by ear when played fast, as legato usually is. There is a fine line between legato and two-hand finger tapping , in some cases making

232-449: Is used interchangeably as a label for both musical articulation and a particular application of technique—playing musical phrases using the fretting hand to play the notes—using techniques such as glissando , string bending , hammer-ons and pull-offs instead of picking to sound the notes. The fact that the same finger is both setting the string vibrating and setting the pitch leads to smoother transitions between notes than when one hand

261-405: Is used to mark pitch while the other strikes the string. Legato technique to provide legato articulation on electric guitar generally requires playing notes that are close and on the same string, following the first note with others that are played by hammer-ons and pull-offs. Some guitar virtuosos (notably Allan Holdsworth , Shawn Lane and Brett Garsed ) developed their legato technique to

290-409: The anglicised form staccatissimos ) indicates that the notes are to be played extremely separated and distinct, a superlative staccato. This can be notated with little pikes over or under the notes, depending on stem direction, as in this example from Bruckner 's Symphony No. 0 in D minor : Alternatively, it can be notated by writing the word "staccatissimo" or the abbreviation "staccatiss." over

319-464: The 18th century and the first four decades of the 19th century. Usually referred to as the line , a good, smooth legato is still necessary for successful classical singers. In Western Classical vocal music, singers generally use it on any phrase without explicit articulation marks. Usually the most prevalent issue with vocal legato is maintaining the "line" across registers. Staccato Staccato ( [stakˈkaːto] ; Italian for "detached")

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348-457: The Spanish verb apagar , "to mute") refers to notes that are played dampened or "muted", without sustain. The term is written above or below the notes with a dotted or dashed line drawn to the end of the group of notes that are to be played dampened. The technique is chiefly written for bowed or plucked instruments. Modernists refer to the 'apogado' (slightly different spelling) as "palm mute". On

377-426: The articulation. Doodle-tonguing is achieved by moving the tip of the tongue up and down quickly to block the air stream momentarily on the way up, and again on the way down. Stringed instruments use different techniques such as bowing , picking , or a technique by plucking the strings with the hand. This technique is called pizzicato . String instruments use these methods to achieve different articulations, varying

406-440: The extent that they could perform extremely complex passages involving any permutation of notes on a string at extreme tempos, and particularly in the case of Holdsworth, tend to eschew pull-offs entirely for what some feel is a detrimental effect on guitar tone as the string is pulled slightly sideways. The term "hammer-ons from nowhere" is commonly employed when crossing strings and relying solely on fretting hand strength to produce

435-425: The initial transient from the attack and decay phases to sound only once for an entire legato sequence of notes. Envelopes reaching the sustain stage remain there until the final note is released. In classical singing , legato means a string of sustained vowels with minimal interruption from consonants. It is a key characteristic of the bel canto singing style that prevailed among voice teachers and singers during

464-552: The length of its sound and the shape of its attack and decay . They can also modify an event's timbre , dynamics , and pitch . Musical articulation is analogous to the articulation of speech , and during the Baroque and Classical periods it was taught by comparison to oratory . Western music has a set of traditional articulations that were standardized in the 19th century and remain widely used. Composers are not limited to these, however, and may invent new articulations as

493-416: The like, but attempts to standardize these signs have not generally been successful. The example below illustrates the scope of the staccato dot: In the first measure, the pairs of notes are in the same musical part (or voice) since they are on a common stem. The staccato applies to both notes of the pairs. In the second measure, the pairs of notes are stemmed separately indicating two different parts, so

522-495: The note (depending on its position on the staff), represents each articulation. The third movement of Beethoven 's Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral) exemplifies the effective use of contrast between staccato and legato within the same passage of music: Varying the articulation of a theme can play a role in musical development . For example, Mendelssohn 's Hebrides Overture opens with a phrase played legato: This idea later re-emerges played staccato as Mendelssohn develops it across

551-409: The note so it is shorter than normal. Think of these two as opposites. Duration is indeed the most striking feature of articulation but is not its only one. Articulation describes the forming of a tone in all its facets. This also includes loudness, timbre, intonation, and envelope characteristics. A note is accented by a sort of triangle without its base. A musician using a string instrument would accent

580-572: The orchestral texture : Woodwind and brass instruments generally produce articulations by tonguing , the use of the tongue to break the airflow into the instrument. Certain palate cues can help student musicians master articulations. For example, the syllable "dah" demonstrates one placement of the tongue to articulate notes. In most cases, using the near tip of the tongue, is the best way of articulation. However, different articulation markings require different tongue placement. Smooth, connected passages may require an articulation more reminiscent of

609-466: The performer and the standards of the time. Even during the Classical period, the interpretation of articulation marks varied far more widely than it does today. Articulations have now become more tightly standardized, but performers still must consider the fashions of their time, methods of playing that were current at the time the piece they are performing was written, the context of their performance,

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638-481: The same meaning, even though some theorists from as early as the 1750s distinguished different degrees of staccato through the use of dots and dashes, with the dash indicating a shorter, sharper note, and the dot a longer, lighter one. A number of signs came to be used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to discriminate more subtle nuances of staccato. These signs involve various combinations of dots, vertical and horizontal dashes, vertical and horizontal wedges, and

667-413: The speed, pressure, and angle of the bow or pick. Musicians use articulation to create a link between notes, such as legato. Legato is formed by letting the string vibrate without stopping or muting it so the note slurs with the consecutive ones. Staccato is another very common musical articulation found in music. This action is caused by the player plucking, bowing, or picking the note and immediately muting

696-489: The staccato applies only to the upper note. The opposite musical articulation of staccato is legato , signifying long and continuous notes. There is an intermediate articulation called either mezzo staccato or non legato . For wind and bowed string instruments in particular, staccato is often also associated with a faster attack, potentially involving a different bowing or tonguing technique as appropriate. In musical notation , staccatissimo (plural: staccatissimi or

725-399: The staff. A few composers, such as Mozart , have used staccato dots accompanied by a written instruction staccatissimo when they mean the passage to be played staccatissimo . Articulation (music) Articulation is a musical parameter that determines how a single note or other discrete event is sounded. Articulations primarily structure an event's start and end, determining

754-400: The style of the music, and their own taste and analysis when deciding how to articulate a score's events. There are many types of articulation, each with a different effect on how the note is played. In music notation articulation marks include the slur , phrase mark , staccato , staccatissimo , accent , sforzando , rinforzando , and legato . A different symbol, placed above or below

783-446: The syllable "la," while heavy, sharp notes may be attacked with an articulation similar to "tah." Furthermore, the implementation of double-tonguing may be required when many articulations are required in rapid succession. Double-tonguing can be simulated by repeating the syllables "dig" and "guh" in rapid succession. Other syllables for double tonguing are "tuh" and "kuh," "tih" and "kuh," and any other combination of syllables that use

812-452: The tip of the tongue behind the front teeth and then the back of the tongue against the back of the mouth. Double-tonguing is an articulation primarily used by brass players, but the use of double-tonguing by woodwind players is becoming more common. A third, rare form of articulation for wind players is "doodle tonguing". The name of this articulation comes from the sound, doodle, one would make if she were to sound her voice while performing

841-443: The two techniques harder to distinguish by ear. Generally, legato adds a more fluid, smooth sound to a passage. In synthesizers legato is a type of monophonic operation. In contrast to the typical monophonic mode where every new note articulates the sound by restarting the envelope generators , in legato mode the envelopes are not re-triggered if the new note is played "legato" (with the previous note still depressed). This causes

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