This action is caused by the player plucking, bowing, or picking the note and immediately muting the note so it is shorter than normal. Staccato is another very common musical articulation found in music.
Legato is formed by letting the string vibrate without stopping or muting it so the note slurs with the consecutive ones. Musicians use articulation to create a link between notes, such as legato. String instruments use these methods to achieve different articulations, varying the speed, pressure, and angle of the bow or pick. Stringed instruments use different techniques such as bowing, picking, or a technique by plucking the strings with the hand. Doodle-tonguing is achieved by moving the tip of the tongue up and down quickly to block the air stream momentarily on the way up, and again on the way down. Double-tonguing is an articulation primarily used by brass players, but the use of double-tonguing by woodwind players is becoming more common.Ī third, rare form of articulation for wind players is "doodle tonguing." The name of this articulation comes from the sound, doodle, one would make if she were to sound her voice while performing the articulation. Other syllables for double tonguing are "tuh" and "kuh," "tih" and "kuh," and any other combination of syllables that use the tip of the tongue behind the front teeth and then the back of the tongue against the back of the mouth. Double-tonguing can be simulated by repeating the syllables "dig" and "guh" in rapid succession. Smooth, connected passages may require an articulation more reminiscent of the syllable "la," while heavy, sharp notes may be attacked with an articulation similar to "tah."įurthermore, the implementation of double-tonguing may be required when many articulations are required in rapid succession. However, different articulation markings require different tongue placement. In most cases, using the near tip of the tongue, is the best way of articulation. For example, the syllable "dah" demonstrates one placement of the tongue to articulate notes. Woodwind and brass instruments generally produce articulations by tonguing, the use of the tongue to break the airflow into the instrument.Ĭertain palate cues can help student musicians master articulations. Thematic development in Hebrides Overture, with staccato articulation Procedure Brass and woodwind instruments 6 (Pastoral) exemplifies the effective use of contrast between staccato and legato within the same passage of music: The third movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. Indicates musical notes are to be played or sung smoothly and connected. Signifies a note of shortened duration or detached (not legato) Indicates a short note, long chord, or medium passage to be played louder or more forcefully than surrounding music.
Hold the note in question its full length (or longer, with slight rubato), or play the note slightly louder. A different symbol, placed above or below the note (depending on its position on the staff), represents each articulation. In music notation articulation marks include the slur, phrase mark, staccato, staccatissimo, accent, sforzando, rinforzando, and legato. There are many types of articulation, each with a different effect on how the note is played.
Articulations have now become more tightly standardized, but performers still must consider the fashions of their time, methods of playing that were current at the time the piece they are performing was written, the context of their performance, the style of the music, and their own taste and analysis when deciding how to articulate a score's events. Even during the Classical period, the interpretation of articulation marks varied far more widely than it does today. Until the 17th century, it was rare to mark articulations in a score, and even during the Baroque period they were uncommon apart from ornaments, leaving them up to the performer and the standards of the time. In addition to the following instructions given by composers, performers choose how to articulate the events of a score independently, in accordance with their interpretation of it.
When writing electronic and computer music, composers can design articulations from the ground up. Composers are not limited to these, however, and may invent new articulations as a piece requires.
Western music has a set of traditional articulations that were standardized in the 19th century and remain widely used. Musical articulation is analogous to the articulation of speech, and during the Baroque and Classical periods it was taught by comparison to oratory. They can also modify an event's timbre, dynamics, and pitch. Articulations primarily structure an event's start and end, determining the length of its sound and the shape of its attack and decay. Problems playing this file? See media help.Īrticulation is a fundamental musical parameter that determines how a single note or other discrete event is sounded.