Musical Terms: Italian and Experience

Musical Terms - Why Are They All in Italian?

This conversation on a CBC Radio Sunday Show, called "Sunday School" is about musical terms like legato and staccato, and why they're in Italian, and what they do. It's fairly simple, but a good and entertaining introduction to what those little Italian words on your music mean. (you can also click on this link to hear the show)

The choir conductor being interviewed is patient with the interviewer and doesn't correct him too much when he's trying to show what legato and staccato mean. He seems to think that staccato should be fast and legato slow, but they're not about tempo. Legato means linked, so the notes have to flow from one to the other without a pause, like they're attached to each other. Staccato is the opposite, the notes are detached. It really helps to go back to the meaning of the words in Italian.

This "Sunday School" lesson does show that it's best to have experience with what the terms mean so that you can use them. You need to hear what they do and actually do what they do a few times before you can read them easily. Musical notation is not necessarily easier if you understand Italian. You still need to experience the translation from notation to music. This is why it's good to have music lessons.