Smoothly

As Printed on a Score

Printed above or below a passage as an articulation word (smoothly, very smoothly), often together with slurs, and in force until a contrasting articulation appears. It is the English form of legato.

How Composers Use It

Use it to reinforce legato where slurs alone would be ambiguous: in passages longer than a bow or a breath, or where slurs show phrasing rather than bowing. For winds and voice, plan where the breaths go; for strings, it asks for unnoticeable bow changes rather than one long bow.

Related Terms