This article explains what slurs, staccato and ties mean in music and how they differentiate. A basic knowledge of how to read music is needed to be able to fully understand the content.
Slurs
A slur is a curved line placed over or under two or more notes to indicate to play the notes joined or connected. The Italian musical term for playing connected is legato. Learn more Italian musical terms here. Below is an example of a slur.
A Phrase
A phrase is a group of notes joined by a slur. See the example below.
Tie
Although they look similar, a tie is different from a slur. In a slur, there are notes of different pitch. In a tie, the notes are all of the same pitch. When you play notes that are tied, you play the first note and hold it for the value of all the notes that follow. The example below features a tie between bars 1 and 2. If you were playing this passage, you would play note E on the fourth beat of bar 1 and hold it over the bar for the duration of the first beat of bar 2. In other words, you hold note E for 2 beats.
Below is another example of a tie. In this example, you play note C on the first beat of bar 1 and hold it over the whole of bar 2 and bar 3 (1st beat). In other words, you hold note C for 9 beats.
Staccato
Staccato is an Italian musical term which means the opposite of legato (slurs). When notes are played staccato, you play them short and detached. In musical notation, staccato notes are indicated by dots placed above or below the notes. See the example below.
I hope you are now comfortable understanding the difference between slurs, staccato and ties. If you are interested in learning more music theory or would like to learn a musical instrument at Do Re Mi Studios, click here.