Tenuto

[1piano4joe]

Hi all,

Am I missing something here? If tenuto by definition means to hold a note for its "full value" then what's the point of the symbol? Why wouldn't I do that anyway? Is this just like a "courteous accidental" or something? This just seems superfluous and totally unnecessary.

"Playing Ball" by the American composer Ross Lee Finney has every chord marked with either a staccato or tenuto.

What am I missing, Joe.

[dw4rn]

The short answer is no, it's not unnecessary because it's not certain that an unmarked note should be held for it's full value.

Compare with legato slurs. Like tenuto, they serve to clarify that every note should be held for it's full value, but unlike tenuto, they also imply that the notes should be connected to form phrases.

I would say that tenuto can also have more specific meanings depending on the circumstances - such as "hold the note or chord down as long as possible within its given value" (e.g. if it's impossible to hold it until the next note), or "emphasize the note by holding it slightly longer than it's actual value."

[lelle]

I often read tenuto marks as a very slight emphasis on each marked note - not an accent, but a soft emphasis that is more than if they were unmarked. I often feel it implies a slightly more detached sound from note to note than if there was just a legato slur. More note-by-note than a long gesture, even if you hold the notes for their full value, if that makes sense.

[mila5405]

A Tenuto mark tells you to emphasize that note by holding it to its full lengt . If you for instance have 2 or more voices in a piece an on of them has tenuto singns you vill emphasize the tenuto marked voice by holding it to the full lengt in comparison to the other voice. /Mikael