legato

Legato is a musical articulation indicating that notes should be played or sung in a smooth, connected manner, with no perceptible gaps between them. The term comes from Italian legare, meaning to bind or tie. In standard notation it is often shown with a curved line, or slur, that spans the notes; the direction may appear as an explicit instruction to connect the tones rather than detach them.

Legato contrasts with staccato, which requires short, detached notes. Between these extremes there are nuanced articulations such as portato (mezzo-staccato), which blends a light separation with a connected line. While a slur marks legato, the exact execution can vary with tempo, style, and instrument.

In practice, legato applies across instruments and voices. A singer uses legato to connect vowels and phrases smoothly, without abrupt pauses. String players achieve legato through coordinated bowing that sustains tones and overlaps notes. Wind players aim for a continuous, flowing phrase by managing breath and embouchure to avoid breakpoints. On keyboard instruments, true legato between separate notes is not inherent to the instrument’s mechanism; players use smooth fingering and, where appropriate, the sustain pedal to create the illusion of a continuous line.

Origin and purpose: legato is a hallmark of expressive phrasing in Western classical music and appears in many genres. It instructs performers to shape musical lines with continuity and lyrical connection, contributing to character, line quality, and interpretive cohesion.