articulation

[ptyrrell]

Hi everyone

How do you interpret the note groupings that contain staccato like dots over the top but also have a phrase line over the top. 

can anyone help?

[cai hong]

My teacher said that that is a 'portato'.She said that it must be played with a tension between legato and staccato O_O but she showed me how to play it and she played it very gently,as if it's not a legato or staccato...she played it as if there is a '-' sign above that note.

well,it's hard for me to explain.

[thierry13]

Portato is different. What ptyrrell is asking is still staccato, but a shaped, expressive and phrased one (in most cases, of course it depends on the context).

[faulty_damper]

All expressive marks are there to aide in interpretation.  Therefore, it should be obvious what it means in context.

[ramseytheii]

Portato is different. What ptyrrell is asking is still staccato, but a shaped, expressive and phrased one (in most cases, of course it depends on the context).

I disagree!  This is definitely portato. 

Walter Ramsey

[bjenkins24]

I disagree!  This is definitely portato. 

Walter Ramsey

Agreed.  This is how wiki states it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portato

I like to think of it as basically legato with a very small break between each note.  So longer than staccato but not quite connected like legato.  It's in between.

[ramseytheii]

I hate to say it, but wikipedia has the best description: articulated legato.

Walter Ramsey