Articulation marks combine. A single note can carry two at once — a dot and a slur, a
dot and a line, an accent and a dot. You read them together: each mark keeps its own
meaning, and what you play is the sum.
The common stacks
Stack
Name
What each mark contributes
Result
dots under a slur
portato (also louré, mezzo-staccato)
slur = one bow · dots = re-articulate each note
one bow, but each note gently re-pressed — a soft pulse, about ¾ length
dot + tenuto line
portato / "held-then-lifted"
line = full weight and length · dot = a clean end
a full, weighted note with a deliberate lift off it
accent + staccato
—
accent = bite · staccato = short
a sharp, clipped stab
staccato under a slur, many notes
slurred staccato
one bow, a row of short notes inside it
a controlled string of clicks on a single bow
Hear it — portato
72 bpm
Dots inside a slur. One bow carries all four, but the bow gently leans and releases on each — 'da-a, da-a, da-a, da-a'. Separated, but never leaving the string or changing direction.
76 bpm
Accent plus staccato on every note. Short — and each one bites at the front. A clipped, emphatic stab, separate bows.
The same four notes, three ways
72 bpm
Bar 1: plain slur — smooth, joined, one bow. Bar 2: dots under the slur — portato, pulsed, still one bow. Bar 3: staccato, no slur — short and separate, a new bow each note. The slur and the dots are doing different jobs; you need to read both.
Try it
Try
One long down-bow, slow, on the A string. Over that single bow play D–C–B–A as portato:
lean the bow into each note and release, lean and release — four soft swells on one
unbroken stroke. Then play the same four as plain legato (no swells) and hear exactly what
the dots added.
The usual mistake
Reading a stack as one thing and dropping half of it — playing dots-under-a-slur as plain
legato (the dots ignored) or as four separate bows (the slur ignored). Take the marks one at a
time: what does the slur ask? what do the dots ask? Then do both.