Slur
A curved line connecting two or more notes of different pitch to indicate they should be played smoothly and connected.
Category
notation
Pronunciation
/slɜː/
Origin
Origin uncertain (possibly German, schleifen)
Length
188 words · 1 min read
About Slur
A slur tells the performer to connect the enclosed notes as smoothly as possible — on strings, this means playing them in a single bow stroke; on wind instruments, without re-tonguing; and on piano, with a legato finger technique. Slurs should not be confused with ties, which connect notes of the same pitch to combine their durations.
More notation terms
Staff
View all notationterms →The set of five horizontal lines and four spaces on which musical notes are written.
TieA curved line joining two adjacent notes of the same pitch, combining their durations into a single sustained sound.
AccidentalA symbol placed before a note to raise or lower its pitch by a semitone or whole tone, overriding the key signature.
Repeat SignA pair of dots and double barlines that instruct the performer to replay a section of music.
Tempo MarkingA word or phrase placed at the beginning of a piece or section indicating the speed at which it should be performed.
Compare with similar terms
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