Which bowing term describes a light detaché performed without changing direction, often under a slur?

Which bowing term describes a light detaché performed without changing direction, often under a slur?

• A. Spiccato
• B. Detache
• C. Loure
• D. Pizzicato

Answer: (C)

Loure is the articulation described. It’s a light, lightly detached stroke—often called portato—that sits under a slur, where you keep the bow moving in one direction across the notes and create just a faint separation between them. The goal is a smooth, gently pulsing line rather than a crisp, separate attack on each note. This distinguishes loure from truly detached bowings and from bouncing spiccato, which requires a separate, upward-off-the-string action. Pizzicato, meanwhile, is plucked, not bowed. So the description—light detaché without changing bow direction, usually under a slur—captures the essence of loure.

Loure is the articulation described. It’s a light, lightly detached stroke—often called portato—that sits under a slur, where you keep the bow moving in one direction across the notes and create just a faint separation between them. The goal is a smooth, gently pulsing line rather than a crisp, separate attack on each note. This distinguishes loure from truly detached bowings and from bouncing spiccato, which requires a separate, upward-off-the-string action. Pizzicato, meanwhile, is plucked, not bowed. So the description—light detaché without changing bow direction, usually under a slur—captures the essence of loure.