I'm confused by the notation 'slur' over 2 identical notes.

Do we play the 2 notes as separate notes ? Or do we just keep counting the beats and treat the 2nd note as an extension of the first note ?

A "slur" over two identical-pitch notes is called a "tie". Such tied notes may be further tied to a next note of the same pitch etc. All tied notes are played as one continuous sound for their whole total duration. They do not need to be of the same length.

That might not be what the original poster is asking.

A tie clearly connects only two notes of the same pitch. If it is well printed, the tie appears to connect one note head to the other. As J.A.S. states, you hold the note for the total duration.

Slurs can connect more than two notes. If it is well printed, the slur will encompass all the notes under it, extending slightly beyond the first and last notes.

Slurs can contain two consecutive notes of the same pitch. In that case you play them as separate notes.

If you have a question about a particular piece, it would be best to post a scan of it so someone can provide a more specific answer.

Rich

It's a tie. Your opinion, please. Because when I listened to the audio play, both notes were played.

Definitively.


Could it be that it was rendered by a computer program or something which improperly interpreted the notation?

My opinion, is that those are ties.
If the audio played the notes twice, then either the performer, or the MIDI program, got it wrong.

JAS .... we posted simultaneously :-)

Mine too, though I don't know the piece.

On my notation program the slur is next to the tie, and I have hit the wrong one by accident more than once. I vote for typist error.

Hm....I have written to the performer; we will see what she has to say.

I don't teach "ties" until I've taught legato. Try playing two consecutive notes of the same pitch legato. If you break it, it's not legato, thus the word "tie" becomes a convenient but redundant term.

Notationally, we've gotten to the point where we want to differentiate between a nearly legato sound and a true legato (applies to piano only), so if an entire phrase is marked with a slur, and is to be played legato, we redundantly add a second slur to insure the two notes are played "legato."

In looking at that particular excerpt, I see that it is in 6/8 time meaning that it is probably compound time with two beats. If the G is meant to be played in a single quarter note value, then it would be incorrect (grammatically) to write it as a quarter note, because that isn't allowed in compound time. While I learned the rule, my teacher explained that the rules actually reflect what is happening in the underlying beat which a musician feels while look at well written sheet music. The correct way to write it would have to be as two eighth notes that are tied, played in the value of a quarter note. If that is how it is meant, then it would have a bit of a syncopated rhythm. Wouldn't we need to see more of the piece (or maybe know its name) in order to figure out whether it is a tie or a legato (less likely?)?

This brings me to a question. If this is indeed compound time, are the bass notes notated correctly? If I remember my theory rudiments, the half note would have to be a dotted quarter slurred to an eighth, or am I wrong?