Download 657768Criterion_A_Unit_2_Articulation_Information

Unit 2: Articulation Terms and Explanations:
Articulation, Legato, Staccato, Accent, Diction
Band and orchestra students may have to know other articulations such as tenuto. Choir kids usually don’t.
Glossary definition: articulation……………….The way a note is started or ended, such as staccato (detached), legato (smooth), or
accent (suddenly loud or emphasized)
There are MANY articulations! Here are a few.
Term
Abbreviation Symbol
Articulation none
none
Legato
Staccato
Accent
There is no actual symbol for
legato. Some composers use
slurs or phrase marks (long,
curved lines above or below
several notes) or tenuto marks
(short lines just above or below
the note heads) to indicate
legato. Some composers will
also write cantabile (as if sung)
if they want things done legato.
stacc. (rarely Staccato is written as little
used)
dots just above or below the
note heads (NOT next to note
heads; that’s different!).
None. Some The symbol for accent looks
composers
like a tiny decrescendo (a
use marcato
little arrow) just above or
(“marked”) in below note heads.
place of
accent, so the
abbreviation
would be
marc.
leg.
Diction
None
None
Slur
None
A curved line from one note to
the next one or the next few.
Meaning/definition:
Articulation means how you start or end notes.
In written music, the composer may put marks
above or below the note heads to show you how
s/he wants the notes sung or played.
Legato means smoothly. Most singing is done
legato naturally. Singers don’t normally put
spaces between notes or hit notes harder—it
makes the singing sound choppy. So some music
dictionaries define legato “as if sung”. The
ACTUAL Italian term for “as if sung” is
cantabile. But you don’t need to know that
(YET!).
Just remember that legato means smoothly! 
Staccato means short or detached. It’s pretty
much the opposite of legato! If you sing or play
staccato, there will be little spaces between notes,
as if you’re tip-toeing through the song.
Accented means emphasized or suddenly
louder. An example of accents in a sentence
might be something like: “I asked if you
WANTED a pencil, not if you HAD one.” The
accents are on WANTED and HAD. In music,
accented means that some notes will be made
suddenly louder or emphasized more than the
ones around them. Please note: Musical “accent”
does not mean speaking in a certain way, like
you’re from a certain area, as in “She has a
southern accent.” That’s not the musical meaning
of accent at all.
Diction simply means clear pronunciation of
words when singing. If a choir doesn’t have
good, clear diction, the audience won’t be able to
understand the words (because choirs don’t use
microphones!). Rappers and pop soloists don’t
need to use such clear diction, because they sing
right into a mic. That’s it!
Slurring means singing or playing two or more
notes without articulating in between. For wind
instruments, it means you don’t tongue between
them. For singers, it means you keep singing the
same syllable on more than one note.
Here are written musical examples of articulations:
No articulations written:
Legato is usually abbreviated; there is no symbol.
This is technically the correct way to indicate
legato.
Slurring means you don’t start a new word (for singers) or you don’t re-tongue
or re-bow the new note (for players). They sort of glide together smoothly.
The slur is the curvy line.
Tenuto marks (the little lines) are sometimes used to
show legato (not really the same, but some composers
may use them).
Here are staccato marks in written music. Staccato means short or deatched (just like the dots look!). Staccato
notes should sound like tip-toeing. Even the word (stac-ca –to) sounds a bit staccato!
REMEMBER: Dots NEXT to note heads change the notes’ TIME VALUE (for example, a dotted half note in
common time gets 3 beats, not 2). Staccato is shown with dots ABOVE or BELOW the note heads!
Staccato notes should sound like half of the note is sound and the other half is rest. Tiptoe!
sounds like
Accents look like very short decrescendos (which they
actually are!). To accent a note, you simply put lots of
emphasis on the beginning of it (start it louder than written),
then you sing or play the rest of it normally (decrescendo to
the written dynamic). So each accent sort of sounds like
Pow! In this example, only STAR! is accented.
Here, every note is accented, so it sort of sounds like the
singer is shouting. Played, it might sound like, “Pow!
Pow! Pow! Pow! . . .”