What is the Difference Between a Tie, a Slur and a Phrase?

A tie, a slur and a phrase all look quite similar and sometimes they can get confused with each other since they look like this:

This symbol is typically used above the stave (staff) or inverted and used underneath the stave (staff), depending on which direction the stems of the notes are going. This applies to ties, slurs and phrases. The length of the above ‘curved line’ can also vary, depending how many notes it spans across, or in the case of ties, how spaced the notes are physically written on the page.

In some ways, a tied note or notes are the easiest to explain. If you see the curved line going from one note to another, especially but not exclusively over bar lines, that the notes are exactly the same, then it is a tied note. It can’t be say from one E to a different E, it has to be exactly the same pitch. If it is not exactly the same pitch, then it is simply not a tied note or notes. It is important to note that there is no limit as to how many notes can be ‘tied’ together. Theoretically and practically (especially through the assistance of pressing down on the right pedal, known as the sustained pedal) the one note can last for several bars.

A slur and a phrase can be a little harder to differentiate. A slur can involve as little as 2 notes but at the same time, it is quite short, usually only  a few notes long. The reason why they are indicated to be slurred is that one note is seamlessly blended into the next note until all the notes indicated by the slur, end. This is not technical, but I like to think of slurs are like syllables of a word. When you say a word with 2 or more syllables, you don’t pronounce the syllables by verbally chopping them up but rather you blend the syllables, no matter how many, into each other to create the sound of the whole word. To help clarify my example, I’ll use the word ‘miscommunication’ because it has a lot of syllables. We don’t pronounce it like ‘mis-com-mu-ni-ca-tion’, but rather a blended whole of ‘miscommunication’.

A phrase is longer than a slur, but it still involves the concept of legato, which in musical terms means ‘smooth and well connected’. So a phrase usually has like a theme or a melody or some complete fragment that is cohesive. Using the analogy of grammar, I think a phrase is a lot like a complete sentence. It can be short or long and it has components that make it a complete thought. When we read a sentence, it has a flow to it – a different flow to what a word with many syllables, but nevertheless there is a cohesion and flow.

A tie, a slur and a phrase mark might all look very similar, however they each have their own function and once you truly understand the difference, the easier it is to actually spot those differences.