Portato

Portato (Italian, past participle of portare, "to carry") in music denotes a smooth, pulsing articulation and is often notated by adding dots under slur markings.

One type of portato notation, also used for staccato and flying spiccato.

Portato, also known as articulated legato or slurred staccato or semi-staccato or mezzo-staccato, means "moderately detached". It is a style of playing between staccato and legato, and is also referred to as non-legato. Mezzo-staccato notes are held for a longer time than with standard staccato notes, but none of the notes is attached to the next (Blood 2012).

Portato is a bowing technique for stringed instruments (Anon. 2001), in which successive notes are gently re-articulated while being joined under a single continuing bow stroke. It achieves a kind of pulsation or undulation, rather than separating the notes. It has been notated in various ways. One early 19th century writer, Pierre Baillot (L’art du violon, Paris, 1834), gives two alternatives: a wavy line, and dots under a slur. Later in the century a third method became common: placing "legato" dashes (tenuto) under a slur (Wall 2001a). The notation with dots under slurs is ambiguous, because it is also used for very different bowings, including staccato and flying spiccato (Walls 2001a; Walls 2001b).

Currently, Mezzo-Staccato is sometimes indicated in words, by "mezzo-staccato" or "non-legato"; or can be shown by three graphic forms:

• a slur that encompasses a phrase of staccato notes (the most common), or
• a tenuto above a staccato mark (very often), or
• a slur that encompasses a phrase of tenuto notes (less common) (Tsai 2008).

Portato is defined by some authorities as "the same as portamento" (Kennedy 1994). About one century ago, this articulation was called "portamento". Currently, the word "portamento" is related to the concept of "continuous glissando", which is very different from Portato.

See also

• Bariolage

References

• Anon. 2001. "Portato". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
• Blood, Dr. Brian. 2012. "Music Theory Online: Lesson 21: Phrasing & Articulation". Dolmetsch Organisation (Accessed 19 December 2012).
• Kennedy, Michael. 1994. "Portato". The Oxford Dictionary of Music, second edition, revised. Associate editor, Joyce Bourn. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-869162-9.
• Tsai, Chia-Fen. 2008. "Articulation". The "Thirty Caprices" of Sigfrid Karg-Elert: A comprehensive study, AAT 3325459, ISBN 9780549808930.
• Walls, Peter. 2001a. "Bow, §II, 3. Bowstrokes after c1780, (iii) Portato". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
• Walls, Peter. 2001b. "Bow, §II, 3. Bowstrokes after c1780, (vi) Staccato". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.

External links

• http://www.dolmetsch.com/musictheory21.htm - Dr. Brian Blood, music theory online: phrasing & articulation - lesson 21

Violin family Instruments Violin Viola Cello Double bass Octobass Five string violin Parts Bass bar Bow Bridge Chinrest Endpin F-hole Fingerboard Frog Scroll Shoulder rest Sound post Tailpiece Tuning peg Techniques Bowing Arco Col legno Down bow Up bow Martelé Portato Rosin Spiccato Tremolo Arpeggio Artificial harmonic Double stop Fingering Bariolage Pizzicato Scordatura Vibrato Ensembles and genres String quartet String trio String quintet String sextet String octet Violin concerto Viola concerto Cello concerto Double bass concerto Violin sonata Viola sonata Cello sonata Carnatic music Other Violin physics Violin history Stradivarius String section Violin lutherie Violin octet Baritone violin Tenor violin Vertical viola Viola Profonda Violin musical styles