The_Complete_Idiot%27s_Guide_To_Music_Theory

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Part 5: Embellishing
Definition
The curved line
used in a slur is called a
slur mark.
Note
Technically, a phrase mark
indicates that a passage
of music is played
legato—which means to
play smoothly.
A tie is made with a small curve, either above or below the note, like this:
Two identical notes tied together equal one long note.
Slurs
A slur looks like a tie between two notes of different pitches, but really indicates
that the notes are to be played together as a continuous group. Although you
can’t play two different tones as a continuous note, you can run them together
without a breath or a space in between. This is called “slurring” the notes
together; it looks like this:
Two different notes tied together are slurred together.
There’s a subtle difference between two notes that are slurred together and two
notes that aren’t. The notes without the slur should each have a separate attack,
which ends up sounding like a slight emphasis on each note. The second of the
two slurred notes doesn’t have a separate attack, so the sound is much smoother
as you play from note to note.
Phrases
When you see a curved line above several adjacent notes, it’s not a slur—it’s a
phrase. You use phrase marks to indicate separate ideas within a longer piece of
music. When one idea ends, you end the phrase mark; when a new idea begins,
you start a new phrase mark.
Lots of notes grouped together are played as a smooth phrase.
Often, wind instruments (trumpets, clarinets, and so forth) base their breathing
on the song’s phrases. They’ll blow during the phrase and breathe between the
phrase marks.
Bowed instruments (violins, cellos, and so forth) use phrases to time their bowing.
They’ll use a single, continuous movement of the bow for the duration of the
phrase; at the end of the phrase mark, they’ll change the direction of their bowing.