Andrew's comments are excellent. I would only add: Crystal wrote: >his examples to not include accents I am used to seeing, such >as the combination accent/staccato (the greater-than sign with a dot below >it) and the combination accent/tenuto (the greater-than sign with a line >below it).
Yes, those are additive symbols and not independent ones. In each case, each individual symbol modifies the other. I see these symbols all the time in the music I use for >teaching, so this puzzles me. I have been taught that the short line above >a pitch is called "tenuto", but in my dictionary it is just described as a >less marked accent. I would disagree with this. I interpret it--and intend it when I use it--as a stress mark, not an accent mark. Clap your hands together; that is an accent. Press your hands together; that is a stress. It is not, ever, a "tenuto," which means a "holding" or stretching of the beat, quite a different thing. > >Also, how do these symbols differ from what my dictionary identifies as >portato, a line with a dot beneath it? As a string player, I interpret portato not as a single note but as a series of notes played in a single bow but each clearly but softly articulated. And Andrew is exactly right, this is played by wind players in imitation of the string players' portato. (Keyboard players? Probably.) A line with a dot indicates some shortening, but also a gentle articulation. I would not call it a portato since nothing is being "carried," but others might. John John & Susie Howell Virginia Tech Department of Music Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mail.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
