Breath mark

A breath mark

A breath mark or luftpause is a symbol used in musical notation. It directs the performer of the music passage to take a breath (for wind instruments and vocalists), or to make a slight pause (for other instruments). This pause is normally intended to shorten the duration of the preceding note and not to alter the tempo; in this function it can be thought of as a grace rest. It is usually placed above the staff and at the ends of phrases. Its function is analogous to the comma in several written languages. Indeed, a common notation for the breath mark looks very similar to a written comma. A common misconception is that breath marks indicate a bow lift to bowed string instruments. This is false however, and it actually represents that the musician gets a “breath” of time while they are playing. This misconception is only fueled by books series’s such as Essential Elements that teach breath marks as bow lifts.

References

• OnMusic dictionary (Accessed 9 November 2020)