For example if I play staccato there is a silence between each note.
What is the technical term for that silent part or silence duration?
Note gap?
4 Answers
There is no standard technical term. In addition to the words mentioned in the other answers, I frequently hear metaphorical terms such as "space" or even "air." Depending on the context, I think I would most likely use "space" or "gap." If discussing the concept in detail, I might use a phrase such as "time between the notes."
With most instruments, and where they're played, there's actually some reverberation sound in between short notes. Not all strings are damped on pianos, the body of guitars continue to vibrate in sympathy, the room will have some echo effect after a short note is stopped, when just about any instrument is played staccato. So, rarely is there genuine silence. Maybe it would sound odd, certainly different, if there was.
Music is made up using sound and 'silences' - aka rests, and rests will be the term closest. Although when staccato is written, the rests are implicit - not noted, so to speak.
Pause isn't appropriate, as that invokes a change in tempo, which rests certainly do not. Gap, or space would do, and we talk about note separation, but nothing more specific comes to mind.
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I disagree, because allowing a note to resonate, especially plucked notes, does not count as 'staccato.' You need to damp the string(s). Commented Dec 21, 2021 at 15:38
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@CarlWitthoft - you can disagree, as is often the case. Tell me how to damp the undamped high strings on a piano, which will pick up overtones, and continue to vibrate and thus sound. Obviously the actual strings involved will be damped, otherwise of course it's not staccato, but that certainly wasn't even hinted at in my answer. Your dv, I expect?– TimCommented Dec 21, 2021 at 15:43
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the nondamped upper strings are undamped because their resonance decays so quickly. But in any case the hammers themselves damped as soon as you release the keyboard Commented Dec 21, 2021 at 17:25
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@CarlWitthoft - are you certain that the hammers are used as dampers? I'm pretty sure dampers and hammers are quite separate.– TimCommented Dec 21, 2021 at 17:51
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You're correct; there were some ancient mechs where the hammer head rested on the string once the key was released, but the standard mech brings the hammer head back up right after striking the string. Commented Dec 21, 2021 at 18:45
I guess, there is just the process producing that "gaps", which has a name: articulation, the most frequent ones are:
- legato
- portato
- tenuto
- staccato
Update: some kinds of articulation address other properties as well, e. g. marcato will also influence the volume or emphasis.
If you really have to talk about the gaps, articulation would not be the appropriate means to notate it (since there is a big range of impact by the interpretation of the artist), you would then explicitly shorten the note duration and insert rests, see this question: Notation - when to use staccato vs rests.
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Whilst articulation is about how things are joined together, OP is asking about their separation, so maybe not?– TimCommented Dec 16, 2021 at 10:32
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Isn't articulation also about things like whether notes are slurred together (on instruments that support it) or played independently, even when played without a gap?– giddsCommented Dec 16, 2021 at 10:55
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1@Tim: I disagree here and consider articulation as the category, whether and how to separate - tenuto would be close to the technical minimumof gap time. I added the most common sorts for better transporting this.– guidotCommented Dec 16, 2021 at 11:27
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1@gidds articulation is broader than that. It can describe how notes are or aren't joined; it can even describe how a single note is played (for example, with one type of attack or another, with a certain amount of breath pressure, or bow pressure, or bow velocity, or key velocity, etc.).– phoogCommented Dec 16, 2021 at 12:25
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1@DjinTonic - That's weird - all 3 of my piano teachers taught me that the default articulation at the piano when there is no indication is actually legato. Commented Dec 17, 2021 at 12:50
When playing staccato, or non-legato the focus is on the notes being separated rather than on the gaps that separate them. There is no special name for them.
If we however request the silences to have some very specific duration, then perhaps rests should be used instead of staccato or non-legato notation.
Depending on the context you can use various names. Gap, silence... One can also speak of notes being separated more or less.
answered Dec 16, 2021 at 6:28
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2Staccato does not have to be "very short." The word means "detached," not "short." The focus on shortness is common, at least in the English-speaking world, but it often leads to inelegant performances.– phoogCommented Dec 16, 2021 at 9:34
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3When you say "If we however request the silences to have some very specific duration, then perhaps pauses should be used instead of staccato or non-legato notation.", that sounds like the perfect opportunity to use rests. Commented Dec 16, 2021 at 12:34
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@Dekkadeci hmm, aren't rests and pauses synonyms? It might be a language issue for me, not an English native speaker here. Commented Dec 16, 2021 at 14:35
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1@user1079505 - The two are synonymous or nearly so in regular English but not in music terminology - rests are notated and well-defined, while pauses are actually articulation symbols placed on top of rests or notes to denote them as being (played for) longer than notated (how much longer is up to the performer). Commented Dec 16, 2021 at 15:32
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2@user1079505 - "Pause" is actually another word for "fermata" in English music terminology (i.e. they're synonyms). Commented Dec 17, 2021 at 3:48