# Breath mark

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{{Short description|Music symbol}}{{Cleanup rewrite|date=January 2025}}thumb|A breath mark

A '''breath mark''' or '''luftpause''' is a [symbol](/source/symbol) used in [musical notation](/source/musical_notation). It directs the performer of the music passage to take a breath (for [wind instrument](/source/wind_instrument)s and [vocalist](/source/vocalist)s) or to make a slight pause (for other [instrument](/source/musical_instrument)s). This pause is normally intended to shorten the duration of the preceding [note](/source/Musical_note) and not to alter the [tempo](/source/tempo); in this function it can be thought of as a [grace](/source/grace_note) [rest](/source/rest_(music)).  It is usually placed above the [staff](/source/staff_(music)) and at the ends of [phrase](/source/phrase_(music))s.

The breath mark is visually similar to a [comma](/source/comma).

A common misconception is that breath marks indicate a bow lift to bowed string instruments; however, it actually represents that the musician gets a “breath” of time while they are playing.

==References==
*[http://dictionary.onmusic.org/terms/508-breath_mark OnMusic dictionary] (Accessed 9 November 2020)

Category:Musical notation
Category:Musical performance techniques
{{music-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Breath mark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breath_mark) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breath_mark?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.