A short horizontal bar above a note, instructing its full length.
Also known as: Tenuto, Line above a note, Dash above a note
A short line above a note means hold it for its full value. It is the closest opposite the notation has to staccato, and its exact meaning has been argued over for two centuries.
Instructs the note to be held for its full written length, and often to be given slight emphasis.
Contexts: Music
Carries no settled definition. Whether it means full length, slight stress, or both together is genuinely disputed and varies by period, editor and instrument.
The disagreement is among editors and performers about interpretation, not about whether the mark exists or how it is drawn. Reference works record the ambiguity rather than resolving it.
Contexts: Music
A short horizontal line of about a notehead's width, centred directly above or below a notehead.
Full length against shortened length.