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Staccato

 

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Staccato



 
 
In musical notation
Musical notation

Music notation or musical notation is any system which represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written Modern musical symbols....
, the Italian
Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
 word staccato (literally detached, plural staccati or the anglicised
Anglicisation

Anglicisation or anglicization is a process of conversion of verbal or written elements of any other language into a more comprehensible English language for an English speaker....
 form staccatos) indicates that notes
Note

In music, the term note has two primary meanings: 1) a sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound; and 2) a pitched sound itself....
 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 played or sung abruptly and short.






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In musical notation
Musical notation

Music notation or musical notation is any system which represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written Modern musical symbols....
, the Italian
Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
 word staccato (literally detached, plural staccati or the anglicised
Anglicisation

Anglicisation or anglicization is a process of conversion of verbal or written elements of any other language into a more comprehensible English language for an English speaker....
 form staccatos) indicates that notes
Note

In music, the term note has two primary meanings: 1) a sign used in musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a sound; and 2) a pitched sound itself....
 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 played or sung abruptly and short. They are usually denoted by a dot over the head of the note when the stem is downward, or by a dot below the head of the note when the stem is upward.

Staccato
Sometimes in the classical music era (the piano works of Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood in Salzburg. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty; at seventeen he was engaged as a court musician in Salzburg, but grew restless and traveled in search of a better position, always...
, for example) some sort of an accent mark
Accent (music)

In music, an accent is an emphasis placed on a particular note , either as a result of its context or specifically indicated by an accent mark....
 might be used instead, which leads to uncertainty as to what the composer intended. Accentuation and staccato effects at times go hand in hand, but scarcely so in most modern works.

Playing staccato is the opposite of playing legato
Legato

In musical notation the Italian word legato indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly. That is, in transitioning from note to note, there should be no intervening silence....
. A staccato passage for strings does not necessarily have to be pizzicato
Pizzicato

Pizzicato is a playing technique that involves plucking the strings of a string instrument. The exact technique varies somewhat depending on the type of stringed instrument....
, though pizzicato itself might be thought of as a kind of staccato effect. For example, Leroy Anderson
Leroy Anderson

Leroy Anderson was an United States composer of short, light concert pieces, many of which were introduced by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler....
's Jazz Legato/Jazz Pizzicato. There is an intermediate articulation called either mezzo staccato or non-legato.

Audio examples


See also

  • Glissando
    Glissando

    A glissando is a glide from one pitch to another. It is an Italianized Musical terminology derived from the French glisser, to glide....
  • Legato
    Legato

    In musical notation the Italian word legato indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly. That is, in transitioning from note to note, there should be no intervening silence....
  • Portato
    Portato

    Portato in music denotes slurred staccato and is notated by adding a slur to staccato notes.Portato is actually articulated legato, where the notes are played almost legato....
  • Slur (music)
    Slur (music)

    A slur is a symbol in Western musical notation indicating that the notes it embraces are to be played without separation. This implies legato articulation, and in music for bow ed string instruments, it also indicates the notes should be played in one bow; and in music for wind instruments, that the notes should be played without using the to...
  • Staccatissimo
    Staccatissimo

    In musical notation, staccatissimo 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....
  • Marcato
    Marcato

    Marcato is a bowing technique for playing a stringed instrument, such as violin, viola, cello, and the double bass, or the voice. Using the Bow , one begins each note with a new attack, rather than slurring, which is a continuous motion of the bow from one note to the next....


External links

  • Neil V. Hawes, organist and choirmaster of St. Mary's Church, Osterley
    Osterley

    Osterley is a place in the London Borough of Hounslow in West London. It is a suburban development situated west south-west of Charing Cross....
  • - video example of staccato playing