legato
Americanadjective
adjective
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of legato
1805–15; < Italian, past participle of legare < Latin ligāre to bind
Explanation
If you see the word legato in your sheet music, it's telling you to play or sing in a smooth, flowing way, with all the notes connected. The word legato is Italian, and it literally means "tied together." If you're playing or singing a melody legato, it's as if each note is tied to the one before it and after it, forming a continuous flow of sound. The opposite of legato is staccato, where each note is played briefly and separately, producing a choppy sound.
Vocabulary lists containing legato
Music - High School
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Opera Vocabulary
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He applied a luscious, pedal-assisted legato to the notes of a melody in the 11th, and slightly detached them in the Ninth.
From New York Times ● Feb. 8, 2024
Out of that delicately manic lyric, the melody slows, legato: “Yeah, I’m constantly / tryna fight somethin’ that my eyes can’t see ...”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2023
Stringed instruments, with their capability for sweeping legato movement between pitches, are the instruments most akin to the human voice, and thus most relatable and sympathetic to our innermost vibrations.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 5, 2022
The score for the third, “Beim Schlafengehen,” was open on the piano in the front room, and Galás praised, of all singers, the lush legato of the soprano Renée Fleming.
From New York Times ● Jun. 2, 2022
For example, most ballads are sung legato, and most marches are played fairly staccato or marcato, whether they are marked that way or not.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
