Slurs and ties

Animisha I am fully with you on this one. However, my confusion is not "is this curved line called a tie or a slur?" My confusion is: "Does this curved line mean that I should hold the same note in the intervals or chords, or does this curved line mean that I should play the intervals or chords legato?"

I think a way to word the answer is:

If that curved line goes from a note to the same note, then you play those "two same notes" as one continuous note. If the curved line goes from a note to a different note, then you play them legato.

I think in one of your questions there were two voicings in a same clef - one with stem-up notes (voice 1), the other with stem-down notes. The stem-up are one singer's music: stem-down are the other singer's music. So if "singer 1" has the same note twice, then it's a tie = the same note continues as if one single note.

Does this clarify or confuse?

keystring In some ways and contexts I hear things off the page, like you might when you read words (Do you hear the words you read, in your head? I don't know if people do that, either. )

Yes, I do hear the words in my head when I read. But in a conversation referring to something that's written, I'm discussing something I read (saw), not heard. For example, I'd say "Did you read that part about...?" vs "Did you hear that part about...?, even if both things were true.

In any case, I understand what you're saying now, so it's all good. Don't want to derail the thread.

Kaydia Yes, I do hear the words in my head when I read. But in a conversation referring to something that's written, I'm discussing something I read (saw), not heard.

Still thinking about this. The thing is that for these things, what I see (in notation) is also a thing I hear while seeing it. So I may refer to the wrong sense. Never thought about this before.

keystring I think a way to word the answer is:

If that curved line goes from a note to the same note, then you play those "two same notes" as one continuous note. If the curved line goes from a note to a different note, then you play them legato.

Not quite correct I think. Imagine the notes C,D,E,D,C played with a curved line over them. This would not be a slur because of the notes played between the two Cs.

keystring test: two of my posts have shown up as written by "deleted". I deleted one of them now because it was too wordy anyhow.

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@Animisha I used to think it was obvious what a slur vs a tie looked like until I started overthinking it after reading your post

I was recently working on a Chopin piece and there's a note that looks like a tie but that doesn't make sense, he's clearly using the notation to indicate a phrase. Sometimes it can be confusing! I do think the general rule of "same note is a tie, else it's a slur" is a pretty good one though.

twocats I was recently working on a Chopin piece and there's a note that looks like a tie but that doesn't make sense, he's clearly using the notation to indicate a phrase. Sometimes it can be confusing! I do think the general rule of "same note is a tie, else it's a slur" is a pretty good one though.

Thinking about this - you can also end up with enharmonics when for example the music is in the middle of a key change. So you might have C# tied to Db (if that happens in music) and it is a single note that continues in piano music.

keystring So you might have C# tied to Db (if that happens in music) and it is a single note that continues in piano music.

Correct! I recently encountered that as well.

Animisha I can now easily see, in all examples that I have given, if the curved line is a tie or a slur.

Yay!!

The position of the curved lines is just a matter of convenience. A tie can be above or below the chords. Same for slurs. Sometimes it is difficult to identify which is which. Often the curved line above the melody is a slur. But with tied chords, I always try different options including to actually repeat the note or the chord in particular when it is held for a long time (Bach for example).