Legato (Italian for “tied together”) is the ideal of cantabile playing in instrumental music. The performer strives to move from one note to the next so smoothly that it feels like a single breath.
On piano, legato is created by the fingers and careful pedaling; on strings, by playing in one bow stroke; on winds, by a continuous stream of breath. Chopin was the ultimate master of legato — his melodies sing as naturally as the human voice.
In notation, legato is marked with a slur — an arc over a group of notes. Its opposite is staccato (detached), with non legato as an intermediate touch. For a violinist or cellist, mastering legato means learning to change bow direction imperceptibly; for a singer, controlling the breath so the sound never breaks for an instant. It is legato that gives a melody the songful quality the Italians call cantabile.
