Steve PMHThere’s no shortage of instruments out there, and understanding the basics of music theory is key to mastering them.
If you look at any music sheet, you’ll find numerous notations that are used to convey a specific rule or message. Some of these symbols include slurs, ties, staccato, and legato.
One of the most commonly used notations in a musical sheet is a slur. You’ve probably heard the term before, but do you know what it means?
If you want to know exactly what is a slur in music, you’ve come to the right place. Here, you’ll learn about slurs, why you need them, and a breakdown of the differences between a slur and a tie. I’ll also talk about how you can implement slurs in your own performance.
Let’s get started!
So, What Is a Slur In Music?
Slur is a western musical notation that conveys playing a sequence of two or more notes without taking any pause in between them. To be more specific, the notes should be played in legato.
Legato means that each note has to be played smoothly and should be connected with another note. In singing, a slur indicates that a sequence of notes should be played without rearticulating it in a single breath.
This notation is generally indicated by a curved line. It can be above the note if the stem is facing downward and below it, if the stem is facing upward.
If a slur or curved line is placed below or above and connects more than two notes, then those notes should be played together without a break. There are numerous reasons for which slurs matter. Some of them are:
- Slurs are arguably the best way to express accentuation.
- Slurs allow you to play a series of two or more notes as legato.
- Slurs are used to perform fast scales.
There are other reasons why slurs matter. They help musicians to determine the sound of the notes, what notes should be grouped together, and in what numbers.
They not only tell us the number of notes but also determine how to inflect them. During a performance, it’s essential for the notes to sound inflected, no matter how long that note is.
Slurs are expressed differently in each instrument. Take guitars, for example, most intermediate guitarists can read and perform slurs. Trombone players, on the other hand, consider slurs to be one of the most difficult techniques to master, even for experienced players.
Differences Between Slurs And Ties
Slurs and ties may appear similar to the inexperienced ear. For beginner musicians, it can also be tricky to understand the difference between the two.
However, both have a unique role to play in a musical composition. Before we can hear the difference between slurs and ties, we first need to understand how a tie functions.
What Is a Tie?
A tie in a music sheet can be identified as an arched line that joins two or more notes of the same pitch.
Unlike slurs, a tie can’t connect two notes that are in different pitches. However, it can connect two notes with different rhythmic values. For example, a quarter note and an eighth note.
If I start with a dotted quarter note, it should go for one and a half beats. If this dotted quarter note is connected to an eighth note by a tie, it should go for an additional half beat.
So if I play the first note and hold for one and a half beats, I should then play the next note and keep holding for another half beat. The combined note should last for 2 beats.
Differences Between Them
A slur is an articulation mark that indicates connecting two or more notes as one smooth sound, without sounding out each note separately. In other words, slurs are used when you don’t want to sound out every note of a chord, but you still want the chord to be heard as separate sounds.
A tie, on the other hand, means that you have to play the two notes together as a single, longer, note. You’re meant to play the tie for the duration of the sum of beats in both notes.
One distinction that sets them apart is that you won’t find any notes between a tie. It’ll connect two notes that are placed side by side. It doesn’t matter which measure these notes are; the only condition is that it should be adjoining.
So, while ties are used to combine notes for a stronger impact, slurs are used to indicate legato articulation.
How Should You Use Slurs in Your Own Playing?
Once you understand how slurs work, you’ll start to notice how they sound when you’re listening to an instrument or playing it.
However, if there’s more than one slur involved in the same piece of music, it might be hard to recognize all of them. In addition to that, you might struggle to understand how different instruments execute slurs during their performance.
So, let’s take a look at some instruments that commonly use slurs in music, and how you should interpret them.
Windpipe or Brass Music
There are only two interpretations of slurs in the Windpipe. The first is playing all the notes in a single breath. The second is that you must never rearticulate the notes with your tongue. In brass music, it’s important for you to connect all the notes smoothly without tonguing.
You’ll often come across a mark or symbol that combines both slur and staccato. Well, in musical terms, this is known as Portato. You can play these kinds of notes by brushing the keys with your fingers.
String Music
In string music, the slur is used to point out bowing, which means that you have to keep the bow moving in a single direction and then change it between slurs.
String players play the slur in one stroke of their bow, same as how someone playing a wind instrument would play it in one breath.
Vocal Music
When it comes to vocal music, slurs are never used as phrasing. On the contrary, they’re used to indicate a syllable that is stretched for more than one note.
This is also referred to as melisma in western musical terms. If, by any chance, a composer wants to indicate phrasing, they will often use dotted lines to differentiate it from a melisma slur.
Guitar
The guitar incorporates slurs in a lot of variations. Slurs can be executed using slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, and bends.
In guitar, musical slurs are generally divided into two: musical and technical. Musical slurs help in playing legato. On the other hand, technical slurs help in playing the music more conveniently.
That said, a slurred note is much more sifter compared to a stricken note.
There Are Two Types of Slurs in Guitar
The first one is called ascending or a hammer-on. You can make this type of slur by pushing a note downwards without picking it. You can probably guess it by its name, which indicates that a note should be hammered or pushed down with force.
This usually happens right after one note is played so that its momentum can help the other note to sound clear. The primary purpose behind this articulation is to make the note that’s hammered on sound softer, and less assertive.
The second type is called descending or pull-off. This is usually played by taking your finger off of the note you’re playing. This will make the sound without picking any extra notes. Similar to hammer-off, it will also need some momentum so that the pull of the note can be heard clearly.
Slurs in Piano
In a piano, the meaning of a slur is to play legato. As you go further in more details, you will find a lot of different variations of slurs in piano.
For example, there’s a technique called the two-note slur in piano. This technique doesn’t just focus on joining two notes together, but also how each note carries a different weight to it.
When a first note is meant to have a stronger impact, it’s always accentuated. This can be done by holding the note for longer or making it sound louder. On the other hand, the second note of the two-note slur will be shorter, or quieter.
In piano, more than four measures of slurs are known as phrases. There are many phrases of slurs that can be either short or long. There is no specific rule for its length.
Slurs in Violin
Slurring in violin means to change the notes using your left hand without changing the direction of your right hand. It shares the same concept as guitar slurring.
It’s not considered hard to carry out a slur using a violin. It can give beginners a headache at first, but once they get the hang of it, it becomes second nature to execute it.
The idea is to know how to evenly distribute the weight of the bow over all the notes. Make sure you have plenty of room in your bow so you can play it correctly.
