Talk:Tenuto

Re: "Throughout history this direction has come to have two distinct meanings: To sustain the indicated note or notes to the full length [and] To hold the indicated note, causing a brief interruption of meter":

History aside, nowadays--unless the tenuto mark has a slur above it--it means either hold the note its full length (or longer, with slight rubato) or else play the note louder. In other words, the tenuto mark is sometimes interpreted as an articulation mark and sometimes interpreted as a dynamic mark. The marcato, ^, is the papa bear; the accent mark, >, is the momma bear; and the tenuto, -, is the baby bear, the lightest of these three degrees of dynamic accentuation. I suppose some may dispute that the horizontal line appearing above individual notes should in all musical circumstances be called a tenuto mark. That may account for some of the confusion. TheScotch 08:09, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

Would it be a violation of copyright law to quote a short extract from a published source in the discussion page? I'm going to risk it. This is from Essential Dictionary of Music Notation by Tom Gerou and Linda Lusk, published by Alfred in 1996 (I chose it because it's compact and easy to carry and I'm not home right now), p.31: "A tenuto indicates that a note or chord is to be held for its full value (durational articulation), or the intent may be to apply a slight stress (articulation of force). However it is interpreted, the tenuto is meant to ensure that a note or chord will be given a certain amount of attention. This emphasis allows the tenuto to be flexible in its application, especially when combined with other articulations. The tenuto is sometimes referred to as a sostenuto or stress." Continuing, p.33: "There are three articulations that affect the force of attack of a note or chord: the tenuto [-] discussed earlier, accent [>] and marcato [^]."TheScotch 08:31, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

I'll wait until around 3/1/7 to see if anyone objects, and then I'll try to incorporate the "force of attack" meaning into the article (without plagiarizing Gerou and Lusk, I hope).TheScotch 07:55, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Done. TheScotch 05:16, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

Surely not?
...when it appears in conjunction with a staccato mark, it is taken as an indication of a slight dynamic accent.

Actually, I usually think of this as a semistaccato... --Jubilee♫ clipman 00:26, 25 December 2009 (UTC)


 * I agree, and so does Kurt Stone. Changing it. !melquiades (talk) 16:32, 20 April 2010 (UTC)

Too technical?
This article sounds as if it were written for music specialists. Someone who does not know anything about music wouldn't have the slightest idea of what the author means with all that technical jargon. AlbertSM (talk) 17:58, 23 March 2010 (UTC)

Slurs, staccato, legato, and tenuto
Re: "When it appears with a staccato dot, it has the same meaning as staccato dots under a slur: non legato[2] or detached"

A slur means legato only in piano music. In wind music it means only tongue the first note under the slur. In orchestral string music it means take all the notes under the slur with one bow. In guitar music it means only pluck the first note under the slur. Staccato dots under a slur in wind music tell you to tongue each of the notes but softly. In string music tenuto marks under a slur tell you to take all the notes with one bow but pulse the bow as you go. This is called louré. TheScotch (talk) 08:31, 10 February 2013 (UTC)

ambiguous?
Saying it's either (a) hold the note the whole written length OR (b) slight accent is kinda misleading. Usually in music written in the last couple of centuries, it's meaning is hold the whole length - don't clip the note short. I say usually, just to allow for the possibility that there is some music that uses it in some other way, but if so it's extremely rare. This is in keeping with the meaning of tenir - to hold. The only time I'm aware of it having a role as a slight accent is when it's under a slur, and is used when slurring 2 notes of the same pitch, e.g. in string playing, when playing the same note twice on the same bow. In this case, it results in a slight accent of the note, otherwise 2 of the same note under a slur would be effectively tied (being one note of the sum of the durations). The article as currently written sort of implies you can take its meaning either way, which would be incorrect.

Horizontal lines in Sibelius Symphony Number Two
At the beginning of this symphony horizontal lines seem to indicate a 'slightly staccato' effect from the Strings. Mi mi mi mi fa fa fa so so so... Is this correct? Luo Shanlian (talk) 09:29, 1 November 2020 (UTC)