What is this symbol, a line over the note heads?
Today I came across this symbol: (on top of the first four notes)
What is this symbol and how am I supposed to play it?
A friend of mine told me it's Marcato, but Wiki gave me this:
as Marcato, which isn't the same.
I have to play this on double bass with a bow, so maybe some more specific answers would be most welcome
Edit: I know what staccato is, I'm only asking for the little 'a'.
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It's a tenuto (the strip). But, there's a staccato (the dot) in the notes too.
Tenuto is the same as let ring.
Staccato is the same as the note being half note than it should be. (1/4 into 1/8, 1 to 1/2, 2 to 1, etc).
As others have pointed out, it’s a tenuto mark. It generally means that you should play the notes detached, but to their full length.
And in this context, it certainly does, as the second part (the small b) of the exercise is to play the same piece staccato.
It's the tenuto sign. It means that the note should be emphasized, by either playing it slightly louder than the rest or holding it to its full length. Wikipedia explains it pretty well.
Check out AGOGIC and ATEMPAUSE. However, the signs are somewhat contradictory, as the staccato says keep it short (about half length), while the agogic says different.
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