Accent

Dynamics in the small

On the page Dynamics it says: dynamics concerns not only whole sections but also the single note. An accent brings out a note through a stronger attack and gives the rhythm its profile. It can stress an expected strong beat or, as a syncopation, precisely an unexpected one. Among the sudden changes the page also counts the accent (sforzato): it lifts a single note out with force, unlike the gradual crescendo.

This fine shaping of the single note, according to the page, forms the transition from pure loudness to articulation, the “how” of playing. Two players can play the same notes at the same basic volume and yet sound quite different, simply through the treatment of the single notes.

Accent compared

On the page Notation symbols the articulation signs are shown side by side. The accent is weaker than the marcato, but audibly louder than the surrounding notes. It has a rhythmically reinforcing effect, often on important beats, and occurs in many styles. In syncopated styles such as jazz and funk accents mark the off-beats and drive the rhythm.

Accent and syncopation

With the accent the connection with the stress of the bar is obvious. In four-four time, according to the article Understanding and counting syncopation, the one is the strongest beat, the three the second strongest. An accent on an unstressed beat creates a syncopation: the ear expects the stress elsewhere, the tension arises from the deviation. See also Syncopation.

Accents in the score

Two sheets from the archive contain accent signs:

Piano

• Achttaktige Übung Nr. 4 Carl Czerny, op. 821 No. 4 · piano · 1 page

  In bar 4 there is an accent under the first chord of the right hand, a dotted quarter note. Bar 3 carries staccato dots on the eighth notes: accent and staccato appear directly side by side in this piece.

Guitar

• Krakowiak Nr. 40 Felix Horetzky · guitar · 1 page

  There are accent signs above single melody notes in the first and second lines. The time signature is 2/4.

Common mistakes

• Confusing accent and decrescendo: Both look similar. The accent sign is written small above a single note, the hairpin over several bars.
• Playing the accent too strongly: An accent is weaker than a marcato. It lifts a note without hurling it out.
• Reading the accent as lengthening: The accent concerns the stress, not the duration. For that there is the tenuto.