Tenuto

${ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c'' { a4-- b-- c2-- } }$

Three notes with tenuto marks

In musical notation, tenuto (Italian, past participle of tenere, "to hold"), denoted as a horizontal bar adjacent to a note, is a direction for the performer to hold or sustain a note for its full length.^[1]^{[full citation needed]}

Its precise interpretation can be somewhat contextual in practice, especially when combined with dynamic directions affecting loudness. In that case, it can mean either accent the note in question by holding it to its full length (or longer, with slight rubato), or play the note slightly louder. In other words, the tenuto mark may alter the length of a note at the same time a dynamic mark adjusts its volume. Either way, the tenuto marking indicates that a note should receive some degree of emphasis.^[2]^{[full citation needed]}

Tenuto is one of the earliest directions to appear in music notation. Notker of St. Gall (c. 840–912) discusses the use of the letter t in plainsong notation as meaning trahere vel tenere debere in one of his letters.

The mark's meaning may also be affected when it appears in conjunction with other durational articulations. When it appears with a staccato dot, it means non legato^[3] or detached.

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Notation

Tenuto is notated three ways:

The word tenuto written above the passage to be played tenuto.
The abbreviation ten. written above the note or passage to be played tenuto.
A horizontal line, roughly the length of a notehead, placed immediately above or below the note to be played tenuto.

${ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' { \clef treble \key c \major \time 7/4 c4-- d-- e-- f-- g-- a-- b-- c2-- } }$

References

^ Apel, Willi (1986). Don Randel (ed.). The New Harvard Dictionary of Music. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 840. ISBN 0-674-61525-5.
^ Gerou, Tom; Lusk, Linda (1996). Essential Dictionary of Music Notation. Alfred Publishing Co., Inc. p. 31. ISBN 0-88284-730-9.
^ Stone, Kurt (1980). Music Notation in the Twentieth Century. W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. ISBN 0-393-95053-0.

David Fallows, "Tenuto." Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy. (Accessed 15 May 2006) [1]

v t e Musical notation
Staff	8^va 15^ma Abbreviation Bar / barline / measure Clef Da capo Dal segno Key signature Ledger line Mode Ossia Scale Rehearsal letter Repeat sign Tempo Time signature Transposition Transposing instrument
Musical notes	Accidental (flat natural sharp) Cue note Dotted note Grace note Note value (beam notehead stem) Pitch Rest Tacet Tuplet Tremolo Interval Helmholtz pitch notation Letter notation Scientific pitch notation
Articulation	Accent Caesura Damping Dynamics Fermata Fingering Legato Marcato Ornament (appoggiatura glissando grace note mordent slide trill) Portato Slur Staccato Tenuto Tie Tonguing
Sheet music	History of music publishing Music engraving Music publisher Scorewriter
Alternative	Braille music Chord chart Chord diagram Eye music Figured bass Graphic notation Lead sheet Nashville Number System Numbered musical notation Klavarskribo Tablature ("Tab") Parsons Percussion notation Simplified
Non-Western and ancient	Ancient Greek Chinese Ekphonetic Gamelan Kunkunshi Neume Swaralipi Shakuhachi Znamenny
Related	Mensural notation Music stand Perfect pitch Sight-reading Transcription
List of musical symbols Category:Musical notation

This page was last edited on 25 March 2023, at 01:24

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Notation

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References