Sempre staccato

As Printed on a Score

Printed above or below the staff at the start of the passage, so the engraver need not dot every note, and sometimes combined with a dynamic (sempre pianissimo e staccato). It lasts until legato, slurs or a new articulation word appear.

Abbreviations: sempre stacc.

How Composers Use It

Saves a page of dots and states the intent plainly: every note short, throughout. Beethoven opens a movement with it to set an unmistakable ticking texture. If some notes must still be held, mark them (ten.); and remember that staccato at a slow tempo leaves long silences between notes, which may or may not be what you want.

Example

Beethoven, Symphony No. 8 in F major, second movement (Allegretto scherzando), oboe 1, m. 1: “sempre staccato” at pp, where the movement begins.

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