Staccato
[stə'kɑːtəʊ] or [stə'kɑto]
Definition
(adj.) (music) marked by or composed of disconnected parts or sounds; cut short crisply; 'staccato applause'; 'a staccato command'; 'staccato notes' .
(adv.) separating the notes; in music; 'play this staccato, please'.
Typed by Larry--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Disconnected; separated; distinct; -- a direction to perform the notes of a passage in a short, distinct, and pointed manner. It is opposed to legato, and often indicated by heavy accents written over or under the notes, or by dots when the performance is to be less distinct and emphatic.
(a.) Expressed in a brief, pointed manner.
Typed by Josephine
Definition
adj. (mus.) with the notes to be played in an abrupt disconnected manner—opp. to Legato: marked by abrupt emphasis: giving a clear distinct sound to each note.—adj. Staccatis′simo as staccato as possible.
Checker: Reginald
Examples
- Celia was not impulsive: what she had to say could wait, and came from her always with the same quiet staccato evenness. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- As they arose the girl's revolver spoke in sharp staccato and one sank back to the deck again to rise no more. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- Poor Dodo, she went on, in an amiable staccato. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
Checker: Reginald