Staccato ([stakˈkaːto]; Italian for "detached") is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration,[1][2] separated from the note that may follow by silence.[3] It has been described by theorists and has appeared in music since at least 1676.[4]
In 20th-century music, a dot placed above or below a note indicates that it should be played staccato, and a wedge is used for the more emphatic staccatissimo. However, before 1850, dots, dashes, and wedges were all likely to have the same meaning, even though some theorists from as early as the 1750s distinguished different degrees of staccato through the use of dots and dashes, with the dash indicating a shorter, sharper note, and the dot a longer, lighter one.
A number of signs came to be used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to discriminate more subtle nuances of staccato. These signs involve various combinations of dots, vertical and horizontal dashes, vertical and horizontal wedges, and the like, but attempts to standardize these signs have not generally been successful.[5]
The example below illustrates the scope of the staccato dot:
In the first measure, the pairs of notes are in the same musical part (or voice) since they are on a common stem. The staccato applies to both notes of the pairs. In the second measure, the pairs of notes are stemmed separately indicating two different parts, so the staccato applies only to the upper note.
The opposite musical articulation of staccato is legato, signifying long and continuous notes.[6] There is an intermediate articulation called either mezzo staccato or non legato.
By default, in the music notation program Sibelius, "staccatos shorten a note by 50%."[7]
Staccatissimoedit
In musical notation, staccatissimo (plural: staccatissimi or the anglicised form staccatissimos) 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. 0 in D minor:
Alternatively, it can be notated by writing the word "staccatissimo" or the abbreviation "staccatiss." over the staff. A few composers, such as Mozart, have used staccato dots accompanied by a written instruction staccatissimo when they mean the passage to be played staccatissimo.[8]
^Willi Apel, Harvard Dictionary of Music (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1960), p. 708.
^Kennedy, Joyce; Kennedy, Michael; Rutherford-Jones, Tim, eds. (2012). "Staccato". The Oxford Dictionary of Music (6th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199578108.001.0001. ISBN978-0-19-957810-8.
^Geoffrey Chew, "Staccato", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).
^Werner Bachmann, Robert E. Seletsky, David D. Boyden, Jaak Liivoja-Lorius, Peter Walls, and Peter Cooke, "Bow", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).
^Geoffrey Chew, "Staccato", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).
^Kennedy, Joyce; Kennedy, Michael; Rutherford-Jones, Tim, eds. (2012). "Legato". The Oxford Dictionary of Music (6th ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199578108.001.0001. ISBN978-0-19-957810-8.
^Daniel Spreadbury, Michael Eastwood, Ben Finn, and Jonathan Finn, "Sibelius 5 Reference", edition 5.2 (March 2008), p. 284.
^Philip Farkas, The Art of French Horn Playing (Evanston: Summy-Birchard Company, 1956): p. 51. ISBN978-0-87487-021-3.
External linksedit
Look up staccato in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Basic Music Theory Neil V. Hawes, organist and choirmaster of St. Mary's Church, Osterley
Staccato—video example of staccato playing
February 15, 2024
staccato, confused, with, dotted, note, other, uses, disambiguation, stakˈkaːto, italian, detached, form, musical, articulation, modern, notation, signifies, note, shortened, duration, separated, from, note, that, follow, silence, been, described, theorists, a. Not to be confused with a dotted note For other uses see Staccato disambiguation Staccato stakˈkaːto Italian for detached is a form of musical articulation In modern notation it signifies a note of shortened duration 1 2 separated from the note that may follow by silence 3 It has been described by theorists and has appeared in music since at least 1676 4 Three notes with staccato dotsContents 1 Notation 2 Staccatissimo 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksNotation edit nbsp Music played without staccato source source The same music played with staccato source source Bassoon articulations source source A bassoon played staccato legato legato vibrato and slurred Problems playing these files See media help In 20th century music a dot placed above or below a note indicates that it should be played staccato and a wedge is used for the more emphatic staccatissimo However before 1850 dots dashes and wedges were all likely to have the same meaning even though some theorists from as early as the 1750s distinguished different degrees of staccato through the use of dots and dashes with the dash indicating a shorter sharper note and the dot a longer lighter one A number of signs came to be used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to discriminate more subtle nuances of staccato These signs involve various combinations of dots vertical and horizontal dashes vertical and horizontal wedges and the like but attempts to standardize these signs have not generally been successful 5 The example below illustrates the scope of the staccato dot nbsp In the first measure the pairs of notes are in the same musical part or voice since they are on a common stem The staccato applies to both notes of the pairs In the second measure the pairs of notes are stemmed separately indicating two different parts so the staccato applies only to the upper note The opposite musical articulation of staccato is legato signifying long and continuous notes 6 There is an intermediate articulation called either mezzo staccato or non legato By default in the music notation program Sibelius staccatos shorten a note by 50 7 Staccatissimo editIn musical notation staccatissimo plural staccatissimi or the anglicised form staccatissimos 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 0 in D minor nbsp Alternatively it can be notated by writing the word staccatissimo or the abbreviation staccatiss over the staff A few composers such as Mozart have used staccato dots accompanied by a written instruction staccatissimo when they mean the passage to be played staccatissimo 8 See also editGlissando Legato Marcato Portato Slur music References edit Willi Apel Harvard Dictionary of Music Cambridge Massachusetts Harvard University Press 1960 p 708 Kennedy Joyce Kennedy Michael Rutherford Jones Tim eds 2012 Staccato The Oxford Dictionary of Music 6th ed Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 acref 9780199578108 001 0001 ISBN 978 0 19 957810 8 Geoffrey Chew Staccato The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians second edition edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell London Macmillan Publishers 2001 Werner Bachmann Robert E Seletsky David D Boyden Jaak Liivoja Lorius Peter Walls and Peter Cooke Bow The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians second edition edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell London Macmillan Publishers 2001 Geoffrey Chew Staccato The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians second edition edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell London Macmillan Publishers 2001 Kennedy Joyce Kennedy Michael Rutherford Jones Tim eds 2012 Legato The Oxford Dictionary of Music 6th ed Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 acref 9780199578108 001 0001 ISBN 978 0 19 957810 8 Daniel Spreadbury Michael Eastwood Ben Finn and Jonathan Finn Sibelius 5 Reference edition 5 2 March 2008 p 284 Philip Farkas The Art of French Horn Playing Evanston Summy Birchard Company 1956 p 51 ISBN 978 0 87487 021 3 External links edit nbsp Look up staccato in Wiktionary the free dictionary Basic Music Theory Neil V Hawes organist and choirmaster of St Mary s Church Osterley Staccato video example of staccato playing Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Staccato amp oldid 1142521552, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
