Articulation
Articulation describes how a single note is started, played and ended: slurred, short, stressed or fully held. It is the transition from pure loudness to the shaping of the note, the “how” of playing. Two players can play the same notes and yet sound quite different.
- Question
- How is each single note played?
- Slurred
- legato (slur)
- Short
- staccato (dot)
- Held
- tenuto (line)
The “how” of playing
On the page Dynamics the transition is described: an accent brings out a note through a stronger attack. Closely related is the question of how a note is begun and ended. A softly started note that begins quietly and swells sounds different from one that enters at once with full force. This fine shaping of the single note is the transition from pure loudness to articulation. Here, according to the page, mechanical playing and living music-making part ways: two players can play the same notes at the same basic volume and yet sound quite different.
| Sign | Appearance | Meaning according to Notation symbols |
|---|---|---|
| Legato / slur | arc over several notes | slurred and flowing, without audible break |
| Staccato | dot | short and detached, about half as long as written |
| Tenuto | horizontal line | full value, slightly stressed, without shortening |
| Accent | sideways greater-than sign | stressed, clearly louder than the surroundings |
| Marcato | pointed roof-shaped sign | stronger than an accent |
The page Scales gives an example of when articulation is called for: with Presto the very fast tempo demands articulation and precision.
Several articulations at once
Articulation signs often appear side by side. In Schubert the right hand plays slurred, the left short, in the same bar. In Czerny's exercise dots, accent and slurs appear on one page. If you want to play with articulation, you must not only know the signs but read them as a layer of their own beside pitch and rhythm.
Voice and piano
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Gretchen am Spinnrade Franz Schubert · voice and piano, with chords for guitar
The right hand is “sempre legato”, the left “sempre staccato”: two opposite articulations in the same bar (6/8, one flat).
Piano
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Achttaktige Übung Nr. 4 Carl Czerny, op. 821 No. 4 · piano · 1 page
Staccato dots on the eighth notes in bar 3, accent under the chord in bar 4, plus slurs and a “dolce” in the left hand.
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In der Halle des Bergkönigs Edvard Grieg, op. 46 No. 4 · piano
“Alla marcia molto marcato” and “e sempre staccato”: staccato dots and accents on the eighth notes of the march figure.
Common mistakes
- Taking articulation for ornament: It belongs to the notation like pitch and rhythm.
- Playing all signs the same: Dot, line, accent and roof each have a meaning of their own.
- Changing only the volume: Two players with the same volume, according to the page Dynamics, still sound different if they treat the notes differently.