13. Notes that hold, stop, or slide

For melodies, a few little symbols control a note’s life:

a note (like A3 or degree 5) starts the note.
_ holds it (keeps singing — a “tie”).
. stops it (lets it fade out).
glide makes the pitch slide smoothly from one note to the next, like a slide whistle or a singer swooping between notes.

lead  A3 _ _ . C4 _ . .     # A3 sustains across the two _ then cuts at the . ; C4 holds one step then stops

A _ holds the note ringing; a . cuts it. So this line plays a long A3, then lets go, then a shorter C4 — the marks after a note really change how long you hear it now.

And glide is live too — give an instrument a glide time and its notes slide into each other:

steps 16
inst slide = saw glide 0.1
slide  A3 _ _ _ C4 _ _ _ E4 _ _ _ A3 _ _ _

This is the difference between a melody that sounds stabby and detached versus one that sounds smooth and connected (musicians call the smooth, connected style legato).

Real names: gate (note on/off), tie/sustain, rest, and glide/portamento.

✅ All live. Everything in this lesson works today: _ truly sustains a note, . cuts it, a fresh note re-articulates, and glide slides the pitch from the previous note on the row. Drums are one-shots, so the gate only shapes pitched/synth voices. Nothing here is still “coming soon.”

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