On 21 Jun 2011, at 23:13, barr...@nspipes.co.uk wrote: > PS my spellchecker offered as alternatives to 'stratocaster': 'toastmaster' > or castrated. Ah! the wonders of a digital age.
Don't know about 'toastmaster', but 'castrated' is a proper musical term. In Italian, that is. More seriously, a good post, Barry. 'Staccato' as a useful description works just fine for me. I've not found the need to refine a very precise meaning, but it conveys a common concept to most people. 'Detached' is not an equivalent, though. I'll play a slow air, or everything else for that manner with 'detached fingering' because that's how a stopped chanter works. And it's not the opposite of 'legato'! I take 'detached fingering' to mean only that and nothing more. Only one finger off at any time, with either an infinitesimal or a more pronounced gap between notes. Once it is more noticeable, then it's staccato. 'Meggy's Foot' to take an extreme example and 'Lads of Alnwick' less so. 'Rothbury Hills' or whatever, hardly at all. Francis To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
