Slur
A curve over different pitches, marking legato or phrasing
Related
A slur is a curve joining different pitches, marking that they are to be played legato or as one phrase. Its concrete meaning varies by instrument: on strings "in one bow", on winds "in one breath", in singing "on one syllable", on the piano "as unbroken as possible".
It differs from a tie by pitch: a tie joins the same note, a slur joins different notes. A slur is not "the longer the better": it draws the breathing range of a phrase, and whether it is played right is heard in whether the sentence is finished, not in how long the curve is.
Read deeper → Ties and Slurs
Sources
- 连音线在不同乐器上的含义，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Slur" 与 "Articulation"；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.