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Slur (music)

A slur is a symbol in Western musical notation indicating that the notes it embraces are to be played without separation (that is, with legato articulation). A slur is denoted with a curved line generally placed over the notes if the stems point downward, and under them if the stems point upwards.

For other uses, see Slur (disambiguation).

The example below shows two measures in 6
8 with a slur for each measure:

For string instruments, the notes should be played in one bow stroke.

bowed

For , such as guitars, the notes should be played without plucking the individual strings (hammer-ons and pull-offs).

plucked string instruments

For , the notes should be played without re-articulating each note (tonguing), except for the slide trombone (and other instruments that control the pitch with a slide), on which only certain kinds of combinations can be played with no tongue without making a glissando – thus "legato tonguing" is employed.

wind instruments

For , slurs are usually used to mark notes which are sung to a single syllable (melisma).

vocal music

Slurs mean different things for different instruments:


A slur can be extended over many notes, sometimes encompassing several bars. In extreme cases, composers are known to write slurs which are near-impossible to achieve; in that case the composer wishes to emphasise that the notes should be performed with as much legato as possible.

a similar symbol but for connecting lengths of notes together

Tie (music)

Musical phrasing