Portato (
ItalianItalian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
, past participle of
portare, "to carry") in music denotes
slurSlur:*Slur, a term of disparagement*Slur : slurring means "not to enunciate words normally or clearly".*Slur , a symbol in Western musical notation indicating that the notes it embraces are to be played legato ....
red staccatoIn musical notation, the Italian word staccato indicates that notes are separated in a detached and distinctly separate manner or short and separated, with silence making up the latter part of the time allocated to each note. The rhythm is not affected. Notes identified as staccato are often...
and is notated by adding a slur to staccato notes.
Portato is actually articulated legato, where the notes are played almost
legatoIn musical notation the Italian word legato indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, in transitioning from note to note, there should be no intervening silence...
. Each portato note is 'carried' to the next note.
Portato sometimes is confused with
portamentoPortamento is a musical term originated from Italian primarily denoting a vocal slide between two pitches and its emulation by instruments such as the violin, and is sometimes used interchangeably with anticipation. It is also applied to one type of glissando as well as to the "slide" or "bend"...
, but it is a completely different entity.
By playing
portato the music gets 'dignity', 'importance' or a clear pace.
Discussion
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Portato (
ItalianItalian is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by a total of around 70 million in the world. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four official languages. It is also the official language of San Marino, as well as the primary language of Vatican City...
, past participle of
portare, "to carry") in music denotes
slurSlur:*Slur, a term of disparagement*Slur : slurring means "not to enunciate words normally or clearly".*Slur , a symbol in Western musical notation indicating that the notes it embraces are to be played legato ....
red staccatoIn musical notation, the Italian word staccato indicates that notes are separated in a detached and distinctly separate manner or short and separated, with silence making up the latter part of the time allocated to each note. The rhythm is not affected. Notes identified as staccato are often...
and is notated by adding a slur to staccato notes.
Portato is actually articulated legato, where the notes are played almost
legatoIn musical notation the Italian word legato indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, in transitioning from note to note, there should be no intervening silence...
. Each portato note is 'carried' to the next note.
Portato sometimes is confused with
portamentoPortamento is a musical term originated from Italian primarily denoting a vocal slide between two pitches and its emulation by instruments such as the violin, and is sometimes used interchangeably with anticipation. It is also applied to one type of glissando as well as to the "slide" or "bend"...
, but it is a completely different entity.
By playing
portato the music gets 'dignity', 'importance' or a clear pace. Portato was a common way of playing accompanying lines in baroque music, although it was not written in the score. In Classical and Romantic music the portato notation with slurs and dots is more common.
See also
- Legato
In musical notation the Italian word legato indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, in transitioning from note to note, there should be no intervening silence...
- Staccato
In musical notation, the Italian word staccato indicates that notes are separated in a detached and distinctly separate manner or short and separated, with silence making up the latter part of the time allocated to each note. The rhythm is not affected. Notes identified as staccato are often...
- Articulation