What does staccato mean in music terms?

A dot above or below a note tells you to play it short and detached. This should not be confused with a dot after a note which alters its value. Short, detached, jumpy notes are called staccato. Listen to the two examples below to hear how the same notes sound when played without and with accents.

Staccato is music or speech where each sound is short and disconnected from the other sounds. An example of staccato is a song with short, quick notes. The definition of staccato is where each sound is short and distinct from the other sounds.

Staccato is a musical term for notes that are played quickly and sharply. It can also refer to anything characterized by similar beats, such as the staccato clacking of a woman’s high heels on a tile floor.

: at a slow tempo —used chiefly as a direction in music.

Piano (p) – quiet. Mezzo forte (mf) – moderately loud. Forte (f) – loud. Fortissimo (ff) – very loud.

In music performance and notation, legato ([leˈɡaːto]; Italian for “tied together”; French lié; German gebunden) indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, the player makes a transition from note to note with no intervening silence.

If you’ve heard music that’s played in smooth, fluid phrases where one note seemingly bleeds into another, you’ve heard legato.

Brass instruments are built for easy staccato playing. While all brass instruments sound good with staccato articulations, trombone and tuba can be particularly effective in this style.

For example, when staccato marks are combined with a slur, the result is portato, also known as articulated legato.

Staccato sentences are concise and focus the reader or listener on content because there are no unnecessary words to obscure meaning. … The effect of staccato sentences in writing is to break up the text of the novel, short story, poem or play into mon-syllabic short sharp sounds.

There are two main kinds of staccato: firm and brilliant, which Demetrius Dounis describes as ‘different processes’.

staccato. Dynamics means loud and soft. Dynamic changes are a feature of Art music (classical music) but not usually in Pop/Rock or Trad. Articulation basically means legato (smooth or joined) or staccato (detached).

• Accent. An accent is when a specific note or phrase is emphasized with an increase in intensity above other non-accented notes.
• Accidental. …
• Adagio. …
• Allegro. …
• Alto. …
• Andante. …
• Arpeggio. …
• Bar.