I`ve been progressing through a book I`ve got on how to play the violin, and I`ve come up against something called tenuto. I know that it`s a little horizontal line underneath the note, and all the book says is "to hold the note for its full length"...buuut isn`t that what you do on every note???

My next question might be difficult to answer, but if anyone can help me it would be great. I understand that staccato means to play a note short and detatched, and I am doing that with my bow, but the note always screeches when I play it. I can never get a clear tone. Is this just a matter of practicing or am I going wrong somewhere?

Thanks everyone

staccato - make sure you release the bow after the initial bite in sound, and make sure your bow is parallel to bridge.

James
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Violinist Community

For staccato, you don`t need to push down very hard. It`s okay not to have a bite.
A tenuto can be interpreted like a fermata, and some people use it in place of a fermata. Yes, you are supposed to play every note to its full value.
Sometimes when someone wants to write two notes that are the same pitch and the same bowing direction, they slur the notes and put tenuto marks on both of them. This keeps the player from mistaking it for a tie. They should be played with a little separation between the notes.

Most oftern the stopped bow is indicated with staccato marks (dots). I don`t think the tenuto mark for a stopped bow is used as often in student literature.

Thanks for the answers, but I`m still a bit confused with tenuto marks. I understand staccato well now thanks!

With normal notes, I would play them for the full length of the note, e.g. 1 full beat for a crotchet in 4/4. I don;t understand how tenuto marks differ from usual notes. From the sounds of the definition it sounds exactly the same as a normal note. I understand that they are used with hooked bowing, but not when they are on their own.

Thanks again

You`ll get it better if you hear it. Try to get someone to play it for you.
Usually, the note with the tenuto is played longer than usual, or as long as you want.

mite be a bit slow but ya 3 the staccato again...make sure you have enuf rozen on ur bow or else it`ll screech...tenuto hold the note for a little longer than normal (ex: if it was a quater note in 4/4 time, youd hold it for like a beat and a half..)

I would think that Tenuto is like, erm, err, well sort of trying to erm, err, umm, get the note noticed erm, err, umm, hmm, for its lenth. I figure that if you can, like at the end of the note, erm, err, umm, hmm, uh, not stop the bow for that long and more like, erm, err, umm, hmm, uh, well, hold the note and only stop the bow for a very short period of time.

Hope this helps you
Anton the violinist