Musical direction whereby a dot placed above a note signifies that it should be played abruptly (8)
I believe the answer is:
staccato
(Other definitions for staccato that I've seen before include "With each note detached, musically" , "With sharply-detached notes" , "In music, in a sharp disconnected manner" , "Toccatas in sharp disconnected manner" , "with snappy sounds" .)