At 8:11 PM -0700 7/21/11, Ryan wrote: >Hi list, > >What are the exact meanings of the terms "attacca" and "segue"? I imagine >that common usage of these terms might have strayed from the original >meanings. I've seen "attacca segue" in plenty of Broadway shows I've >performed, but is it redundant?
In my opinion it is redundant, and I'm not sure I've ever seen it that way. Without trying to look up the words, in practice they are ALMOST synonymous, but not quite. Segue indicates "that which follows," which can mean that it follows without a break but not necessarily. One modification, for example, is "applause segue"--i.e., go right on after the applause dies down. I suppose one could also have a "dialog segue." Attacca means, to me at least, going immediately on without any pause, as in the next beat is the next downbeat. It can be somewhat confusing, of course, when there happens to be a pickup beat to the new section. Those are the ways that I would use the words. "V.S." on the other hand means watch out because something's coming up and you could miss it. More of a warning than an instruction. Again, as I would use it. John -- John R. Howell, Assoc. Prof. of Music Virginia Tech Department of Music School of Performing Arts & Cinema College of Liberal Arts & Human Sciences Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A. 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[email protected]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html "We never play anything the same way once." Shelly Manne's definition of jazz musicians. _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
