View source for Slur (music)

{{Short description|Symbol in musical notation}}
{{other|Slur (disambiguation)}}
{{Image frame|content=<score> {
\override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c'' {
        a4( b c d e f g a)
    }
}
</score>|width=220|caption=An A natural minor scale under a slur|max-width=}}

A '''slur''' is a symbol in [[Western culture|Western]] [[musical notation]] indicating that the [[note (music)|notes]] it embraces are to be played without separation (that is, with [[legato]] [[articulation (music)|articulation]]). A slur is denoted with a [[curve]]d [[line (geometry)|line]] generally placed over the notes if the [[stem (music)|stems]] point downward, and under them if the stems point upwards.

{{Quote|Prime functions of the slur in [[keyboard music]]...are to delineate the extent of a [[phrase line]] and to indicate the legato performance of [[melody|melodies]] or [[arpeggio|arpeggiated]] [[chord (music)|chords]].<ref>[[Gardner Read|Read, Gardner]] (1969). [[iarchive:musicnotationman00read/page/314/mode/2up|"Keyboard Notation", ''Music Notation'']], p. 314. Crescendo, Taplinger: New York. {{ISBN|0-8008-5453-5}}.</ref>}}
{{Quote|Both [[accent (music)|accents]] and slurs relate directly to [[woodwind instrument|woodwind articulation]]...(and [[brass instrument|brass]] as well) since they employ a variety of [[tonguing]] effects [which are indicated by use of, "the correct form," of accents and slurs].<ref>Read (1969). "Woodwind Notation", p. 347.</ref>}}
{{Quote|[With [[bowed string instrument]]s] A curved slur over or under two or more notes indicates that these notes are to be connected...Slurs are only partially indicative of phrasing; if an actual phrase mark is necessary (to unite several [[bow-stroke]]s into a larger melodic idea), it should be notated above the passage with broken lines.<ref>Read (1969). "String Notation", p. 402</ref>}}

The example below shows two measures in {{music|time|6|8}} with a slur for each measure:

:<score sound="1">
\relative c'' {
  \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"violin"
  \key e \minor \time 6/8
  e16( dis e fis g b, c d e gis, a b)
  c( e, f g! a c, d e f g a b)
}</score>

== Performance ==
[[File:G run in G.png|thumb|upright=1.3|[[G run]] in G [[major and minor|major]] variation<ref name="Traum">Traum, Happy (1974). ''Bluegrass Guitar'', p. 25. {{ISBN|0-8256-0153-3}}.</ref> contains slurs indicating both hammer-ons and a pull-off[[File:G run in G.mid]]]]

Slurs mean different things for different instruments:

*For [[bow (music)|bowed]] [[string instrument]]s, the notes should be played in one [[bow stroke]].
* For [[plucked string instrument]]s, such as [[guitar]]s, the notes should be played without plucking the individual strings ([[hammer-on]]s and [[pull-off]]s).
* For [[wind instrument]]s, the notes should be played without re-articulating each note ([[tonguing]]), except for the [[slide trombone]] (and other instruments that control the pitch with a slide), on which only certain kinds of combinations can be played with no tongue without making a [[glissando]]{{dash}}thus "legato tonguing" is employed.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}}
* For [[vocal music]], slurs are usually used to mark notes which are [[singing|sung]] to a single [[syllable]] ([[melisma]]).

A slur can be extended over many notes, sometimes encompassing several [[bar (music)|bars]]. In extreme cases, composers are known to write slurs which are near-impossible to achieve; in that case the composer wishes to emphasise that the notes should be performed with as much legato as possible.

==See also==
*[[Tie (music)]]{{dash}}a similar symbol which combines adjacent notes of the same pitch into a single longer note
*[[Musical phrasing]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Musical notation}}

[[Category:Articulations (music)]]
[[Category:Musical notation]]

[[es:Legato]]