Tenuto (Italian Italian ( italiano , or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken as a native language by about 70 million people in Italy, San Marino and parts of Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia and France. In addition, it is spoken by an additional 120 to 150 million people as a non-native language. Most native speakers are native bilinguals of both, past participle of tenere, "to hold") is a direction used in musical notation Music notation or musical notation is any system which represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols. Arguably, it is one of the first directions to be used in music notation, as Notker of St. Gall Notker the Stammerer , also called Notker the Poet or Notker of Saint Gall (c. 840 – 6 April 912), was a musician, author, poet, and Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Saint Gall in modern Switzerland. He is commonly accepted to be the Monk of Saint Gall (Monachus Sangallensis), the author of De Carolo Magno, a book of anecdotes about the Emperor (c.840 - 912) discusses the use of the letter t in plainsong Plainsong is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Roman Catholic Church. Though the Eastern Orthodox Church did not split from its Western counterpart until long after the origin of plainchant, Byzantine chants are generally not classified as plainsong. Plainsong is also commonly used in the Anglican and Lutheran churches notation as meaning trahere vel tenere debere in one of his letters.

The precise meaning of tenuto is ambiguous: it can mean either hold the note in question its full length (or longer, with slight rubato Tempo rubato is a musical term referring to the slight speeding up or slowing down of the tempo of a piece at the discretion of the soloist or the conductor. In the earlier type of rubato, the tempo of the melody was made more flexible, while the accompaniment kept strict time. A later type affected melody and accompaniment. While it is often), or play the note slightly louder. In other words, the tenuto mark may alter either the dynamics or the duration of a note. Either way, the marking indicates that a note should receive emphasis.[1]

The marking's meaning may be affected when it appears in conjunction with other articulations. When it appears in conjunction with a staccato Staccato is a form of musical articulation, signifying an unconnected note, which is short and detached. It has been used in musical notation since the early 18th century.[citation needed] Staccato is derived from the Italian word staccare meaning to detach. It may also originate from the Old French word estachier, which comes from the latin dot, it has the same meaning as staccato dots under a slur A slur is a symbol in Western musical notation indicating that the notes it embraces are to be played without separation. This implies legato articulation, and in music for bowed string instruments, it also indicates the notes should be played in one bow; and in music for wind instruments, that the notes should be played without using the tongue: non legato[2] or detached. When it appears with an accent mark, because the accent indicates dynamics, the tenuto takes on its meaning of full or extra duration.[3] If there are a succession of tenuto marks, one right after another, the performer would play the notes slightly detached and with a slight accent as well. [4]

Notation

Tenuto can be notated three ways:

  1. The word tenuto written above the passage to be played tenuto.
  2. The abbreviation ten. written above the note or passage to be played tenuto.
  3. A horizontal line, roughly the length of a notehead, placed immediately above or below the note to be played tenuto (as in the image above).

See also

References

  1. ^ Tom Gerou and Linda Lusk, Essential Dictionary of Music Notation (1996)
  2. ^ Kurt Stone, "Music Notation in the Twentieth Century" (1980)
  3. ^ Tom Gerou and Linda Lusk, Essential Dictionary of Music Notation (1996)
  4. ^ http://www.dolmetsch.com/musictheory21.htm
Musical notation Music notation or musical notation is any system which represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols and development In European classical music, musical development is a process by which a musical idea is communicated in the course of a composition. It refers to the transformation and restatement of initial material, and is often contrasted with musical variation, which is a slightly different means to the same end. Development is carried out upon portions of
Staff In standard Western musical notation, the staff or stave is a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces, each of which represents a different musical pitch, or, in the case of a percussion staff, different percussion instruments. Appropriate music symbols, depending upon the intended effect, are placed on the staff according to their

Bar & Bar line In musical notation, a bar is a segment of time defined as a given number of beats of a given duration. Typically, a piece consists of several bars of the same length, and in modern musical notation the number of beats in each bar is specified at the beginning of the score by a time signature (such as 3/4) · Clef A clef is a musical symbol used to indicate the pitch of written notes. Placed on one of the lines at the beginning of the staff, it indicates the name and pitch of the notes on that line. This line serves as a reference point by which the names of the notes on any other line or space of the staff may be determined · Da capo Da Capo is a musical term in Italian, meaning from the beginning . It is often abbreviated D.C. It is a composer or publisher's directive to repeat the previous part of music. In small pieces this might be the same thing as a repeat, but in larger works D.C. might occur after one or more repeats of small sections, indicating a return to the very · Dal segno In music notation, Dal segno (often abbreviated D.S.) is used as a navigation marker. From Italian for "from the sign," D.S. appears in sheet music and instructs a musician to repeat a passage starting from the sign shown at right, sometimes called the "segno" in English · Key signature In musical notation, a key signature is a series of sharp or flat symbols placed on the staff, designating notes that are to be consistently played one semitone higher or lower than the equivalent natural notes unless otherwise altered with an accidental. Key signatures are generally written immediately after the clef at the beginning of a line of · Ledger line A ledger line or leger line is musical notation to inscribe notes outside the lines and spaces of the regular musical staffs. A line slightly longer than the note is drawn parallel to the staff, above or below, spaced at the same distances as the notes within the staff · Musical mode In addition, from the end of the eighteenth century, the term began to be used in ethnomusicological contexts to describe pitch structures in non-European musical cultures, sometimes with doubtful compatibility · Musical scale In music, a scale is a group of musical notes collected in ascending and descending order, that provides material for or is used to conveniently represent part or all of a musical work including melody and/or harmony. Scales are ordered in pitch or pitch class, with their ordering providing a measure of musical distance · Rehearsal letter A rehearsal letter is a boldface letter of the alphabet in an orchestral score, and its corresponding parts, that provides a convenient spot from which to resume rehearsal after a break. Rehearsal letters are most often used in scores of the Romantic era, beginning with Louis Spohr. They may also be generically called rehearsal marks or rehearsal · Repeat sign In music, a repeat sign is the sign which indicates a section should be repeated. If the piece has one repeat sign alone, then that means to repeat from the beginning, and then continue on . A corresponding sign facing the other way indicates where the repeat is to begin. These are analogous to the instructions da capo and dal segno · Time signature The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat · Transposition In music transposition refers to the process of moving a collection of notes up or down in pitch by a constant interval. For example, one might transpose an entire piece of music into another key. Similarly, one might transpose a tone row or an unordered collection of pitches such as a chord so that it begins on another pitch. See also Transposing · Transposing instrument A transposing instrument is a musical instrument for which written notes are read at a pitch different from concert pitch, which a non-transposing instrument, such as a piano, would play. On a transposing instrument, a concert C is written as a different note; the concert pitch that is played for a written C determines the key that an instrument
Notes Notes are the "atoms" of much Western music: discretizations of musical phenomena that facilitate performance, comprehension, and analysis

Accidental In music, an accidental is a note whose pitch is not a member of a scale or mode indicated by the most recently applied key signature. In musical notation, the symbols used to mark such notes, sharps (♯), flats (♭), and naturals (♮), may also be called accidentals. An accidental sign raises or lowers the following note from its normal pitch, (Flat In music, flat, or Bemolle, means "lower in pitch." More specifically, in music notation, flat means "lower in pitch by a semitone ," and has an associated symbol (♭), which is a stylised lowercase "b" . The Unicode character '♭' (U+266D) is the flat sign. Its HTML entity is ♭ · Natural In musical notation, a natural sign is an accidental sign used to cancel a flat or sharp from either a preceding note or the key signature. If a bar contains a double sharp or double flat accidental and the composer wishes to denote the same note with only a single sharp or flat, a natural sign traditionally precedes the (single) sharp or flat · Sharp In music, sharp means higher in pitch. More specifically, in musical notation, sharp means "higher in pitch by a semitone ," and has an associated symbol (♯), which is often confused with the number (hash) sign (#). The hash sign has two horizontal lines and two slanted lines, while the sharp sign has two vertical lines and two slanted) · Dotted note In Western musical notation, a dotted note is a note with a small dot written after it. The dot adds a half as much again to the basic note's duration. If the basic note lasts 2 beats, the corresponding dotted note lasts 3 beats. A dotted note is equivalent to writing the basic note tied to a note of half the value, or with more than one dots, · Grace note A grace note is a kind of music notation used to denote several kinds of musical ornaments. When occurring by itself, a single grace note normally indicates the intention of either an appoggiatura or an acciaccatura. When they occur in groups, grace notes can be interpreted to indicate any of several different classes of ornamentation, depending · Note value In music notation, a note value indicates the relative duration of a note, using the color or shape of the note head, the presence or absence of a stem, and the presence or absence of flags (Beam A beam in musical notation is a thick line frequently used to connect multiple consecutive eighth notes , or notes of shorter value (indicated by two or more beams), and occasionally rests. Beamed notes or rests are groups of notes and rests connected by a beam; the use of beams is called beaming · Note head In music, a note head is the elliptical part of a note. Noteheads may be coloured completely black or white, indicating the note value . In a whole note, the note head is the only component of the note. Shorter note values attach a stem to the note head, and possibly beams or flags. The longer double whole note can be written with vertical lines · Stem Stems are the lines which extend from the notehead. Stems may point up or down. Different-facing stems indicate the voice for polyphonic music written on the same staff. For single-note melodies, the stems usually point down for notes on the middle line or higher, and up for those below. If the stem points up from a notehead, the stem originates) · Pitch Pitch represents the perceived fundamental frequency of a sound. It is one of the four major auditory attributes of sounds along with loudness, timbre and sound source location. When the actual fundamental frequency can be precisely determined through physical measurement, it may differ from the perceived pitch because of overtones, also known as · Rest A rest is an interval of silence in a piece of music, marked by a sign indicating the length of the pause. Each rest symbol corresponds with a particular note value: · Interval In music theory, the term interval describes the relationship between the pitches of two notes · Letter notation In music, letter notation is a system of representing a set of pitches, for example, the notes of a scale, by letters. For the complete Western diatonic scale, for example, these would be the letters A-G, possibly with a trailing symbol to indicate a half-step raise--, or a half-step lowering (flat, ♭). This is the most common way of specifying
Articulation In music, articulation refers to the direction or performance technique which affects the transition or continuity on single note or between multiple notes or sounds

Dynamics In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional (velocity). The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics. Dynamics do not indicate specific volume levels, but are meant to be · Ornament In music, ornaments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to carry the overall line of the melody , but serve instead to decorate or "ornament" that line. Many ornaments are performed as "fast notes" around a central note. The amount of ornamentation in a piece of music can vary from quite extensive (it was often so in (Trill · Mordent In music, a mordent is an ornament indicating that the note is to be played with a single rapid alternation with the note above or below. Like trills, they can be chromatically modified by a small flat, sharp or natural accidental. The term comes from the Latin mordere, meaning "to bite." · Grace note A grace note is a kind of music notation used to denote several kinds of musical ornaments. When occurring by itself, a single grace note normally indicates the intention of either an appoggiatura or an acciaccatura. When they occur in groups, grace notes can be interpreted to indicate any of several different classes of ornamentation, depending) · Ossia Ossia is a musical term for an alternative passage which may be played instead of the original passage. The word ossia comes from the Italian for "alternatively" and was originally spelled o sia, meaning "or be it" . Ossias are very common in opera and solo piano works. In practice, ossia passages usually are an easier version · Portato Portato in music denotes slurred staccato and is notated by adding a slur to staccato notes · Accent In music, an accent is an emphasis placed on a particular note, either as a result of its context or specifically indicated by an accent mark. Accents contribute to the articulation and prosody of a performance of a musical phrase. Compared to surrounding notes: · Legato In musical notation the Italian word legato indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, in transitioning from note to note, there should be no intervening silence. Legato technique is required for slurred performance, but unlike slurring (as that term is interpreted for some instruments), legato does not forbid · Tenuto · Marcato Marcato is a form of staccato. True marcato entails performing the note with a sforzando (sfz) attack and a sustain of two-thirds (occasionally three-quarters) of the original written length at same or increased volume, to notes preceding or succeeding it. An audible counted rest should follow (rest length: one-third to one quarter the marcato · Staccato Staccato is a form of musical articulation, signifying an unconnected note, which is short and detached. It has been used in musical notation since the early 18th century.[citation needed] Staccato is derived from the Italian word staccare meaning to detach. It may also originate from the Old French word estachier, which comes from the latin · Staccatissimo · Tie · Slur · Fermata · Tonguing
Development

Coda · Exposition · Harmony · Melody · Motif · Recapitulation · Rhythm (Beat · Meter · Tempo) · Theme · Tonality · Atonality
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Chord chart · Figured bass · Graphic notation · Lead sheet · Eye music · Modern musical symbols · Neume · Tablature

Categories: Musical notation | Italian loanwords | Rhythm

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