Question

[deborahlane]

Is there a musical term/name for staccato notes under a slur?

x-posted quite a bit, so very sorry :)

Comments

[deltashade]

"Portato is indicated by a short line over or under a note, or the combination of a slur and staccato dot. It can also be indicated by the word portato printed in the score."

From here.

[makropulos]

Yes there is - or rather it's confusing. You are in extremely good company with finding it a bit baffling as Brahms (no less) objected to it as well, for being very ambiguous. In violin music (e.g. a famous bit in the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto) you get the same thing, and the term used is "portato". There is a lot of argument about whether it acutally means separating the notes at all, or whether they are supposed to kind-of sigh. (This is discussed in considerable detail in the latest edition of the New Grove - let me know if you want the reference).

Sometimes people go for calling it "semi-staccato" but that sounds like a fudge to me.

So...(getting to the point finally...) what's the context? I think "portato" or some such is the likeliest bet, but musical notation is notoriously approximate stuff at times.

[deltashade]

I like your explanation better.

[makropulos]

Heh - sorry about the simultaneous posting - I was typing mine when you posted yours - and we seem to agree on "portato" which is good :)

[popplecat]

Portato it is - I've often heard it referred to as a "raindrop" effect, which is so much more poetic than a "half-staccato" :) You are doing this on flute, or another instrument? I think it may be easier to carry off on a wind instrument because you can use breath to create the "carried" effect easier.

[deborahlane]

Some people in my choir were curious as to what it was called! :) Thanks!