Legato

Legato is a way of playing or singing music that makes notes sound smooth and connected, with no pauses between them. In music, this smooth style is very important because it helps musicians express feelings and ideas through their playing. The word "legato" comes from the Italian language and means "tied together."

Musicians show when they want to play legato in their music by writing the word "legato" or by drawing a curved line under the notes. This curved line is called a slur and tells the musician that the notes should be played smoothly as one group. This is different from a tie, which connects notes of the same pitch.

Legato is one of many ways musicians can make their music sound different. Another way is called staccato, where notes are played short and separated. There is also a middle style called mezzo staccato or non-legato, sometimes known as portato. All these ways of playing help musicians create interesting and beautiful music.

Classical string instruments

In music for Classical string instruments, legato means playing notes smoothly. Musicians use their whole bow and make very small pauses between notes, so it sounds like one smooth line. They move their wrists in a special way and sometimes use vibrato to help. This style is also linked with portamento.

Guitar

In guitar playing, apart from classical guitar, legato is a way to play music smoothly. It uses special techniques like glissando, string bending, hammer-ons, and pull-offs instead of picking the strings. This makes the notes sound connected and smooth.

Some great guitar players like Allan Holdsworth, Shawn Lane, and Brett Garsed became very skilled at this. They could play very fast and complex music using these techniques. Legato helps guitarists play quick, smooth runs and can make music sound very fluid and nice.

Synthesizers

In synthesizers, legato is a special way of playing one note after another smoothly. Normally, when you press a new note, the sound starts over. But in legato mode, if you hold the first note and press the next one, the sound doesn’t start over. This means the beginning part of the sound happens only once, making the notes flow together nicely.

Vocal music

See also: Melisma

In classical singing, legato means singing a series of notes smoothly, connecting them with vowels and using only a few consonants. This smooth style was very important for singers in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Today, good legato singing is still important for classical singers, especially when singing phrases without special marks. One challenge is keeping the smooth sound even when changing pitch ranges.