Tenuto & Staccato :: Key words: tenuto staccato mezzo-staccato staccatissimo

1 Tenuto & Staccato

In the same way that a musical line can be 'smoothed out' using slurs, so single notes, that when played normally would be detached slightly from the note immediately following, when marked appropriately would be allowed to sound for their full written value. That mark, a small horizontal line over or below the note head, is called a tenuto mark. If the use of the tenuto marking is extended over more than a few notes the composer may place the word tenuto in the score rather than pedantically marking every note. The reverse, i.e. the shortening of a note by replacing part of its time value with a period of silence, is called staccato, a sign introduced into music in the late eighteenth century. This is marked with a small dot (for staccato) or a horizontal line and dot (for mezzo staccato), or a single 'quotation mark' or 'wedge' (for staccatissimo). Staccato means no more than sustaining the note, so marked, for only half its written length, replacing the other half with a period of silence. Some players mistakenly strengthen the shorter note in the belief that staccato is used to make a note rhythmically 'stronger' when it is actually used to make it 'weaker'. Mezzo staccato means hold the note for three quarters of its time value, while staccatissimo means hold the note for one quarter of its time value. We give a number of examples below.

Slurs & Staccato :: Key word: slurred staccato

Slurs & Staccato When used under a slur, the staccato mark will have a slightly modified effect depending on the 'weight' of the note within the slur were it to have no staccato mark. If a note is slurred in pairs, the effect is to sustain the first but slightly lift the second. The staccato mark, therefore, on either or both, must be seen to modify this relationship under the slur, so that if both carry staccato marks, the first note remains slightly longer than the second but the notes are now slightly detached from each other, the slur is therefore 'broken'. The way a staccato mark under a slur is realised will also depend on the instrument for which the instruction refers. On a piano the staccato under a slur is a portato where the individual notes sound for three-quarters of their written duration. On a string instrument the staccato mark under a slur means detach the notes on a single stroke of the bow whether upstroke or downstroke. The bow does not change direction for the duration of the slur. If the music is from the baroque period and the piece is slow and in a French style where you might expected to play the shortest notes, say the quavers (eighth notes), ingal then if some quavers (eighth notes) have staccato marks over them and a slur above the staccato marks then those quavers (eighth notes) are to be played evenly, i.e. gal. See lesson 20 for more information about gal and ingal.

Variety of Accents :: Key word: accents

Variety of Accents An accent serves a variety of purposes: 1. a stress or special emphasis on a beat to mark its position in the bar. 2. a mark in the written music indicating an accent of which there are five basic types: staccato accents, staccatissimo accents, normal accents, strong accents, legato accents with several combinations possible. 3. the principle of regularly recurring stresses which serve to give rhythm to the music. percussive accents (1-4) pressure accent (5)

strong normal accent staccato staccatissimo accent martelato marcato light accents accent name staccato accent strong accent description

legato accent tenuto portamento

medium accents

short and separated from the following note

staccatissimo accent an exaggerated short duration of the note strong accent generally meant for attacks at loud dynamic levels of forte or louder moderately sharp attack that can be used at any dynamic level from pianissimo to fortissimo this can be used at any dynamic level and is a slight stress

normal accent

legato accent

without a noticable attack and held to the full duration of the note combined accents (1-8)

strong legato or marcato & strong portamento & marcato strong & legato & marcato & staccato & & staccato staccato & staccatissimo staccatissimo staccatissimo staccato legato mezzo staccato legato duro staccato forzato strong accents accent name strong & staccato accents description very percussive and shorter duration than notated medium accents

strong & very percussive while retaining full legato accents duration of notation strong & staccatissimo accents legato & staccato accents legato and staccatissimo normal & staccato accents strongest percussive attack possible with an exaggerated short duration stressed and moderately short, separated from next note stressed and quite short moderately percussive and short

normal & moderately percussive with full note legato accents duration normal & staccatissimo accents moderately percussive with short note duration

Articulation on Wind Instruments :: Key word: woodwind articulation

Articulation on Wind Instruments We summarise below information about articulation and accent as applied to wind instruments. woodwind articulation legato soft or tongued legato staccato description usually marked by a slur, the first note only will be tongued and the remainder of the phrase in play under a continuous stream of breath every note is lightly tongued, with a softer syllable (du instead of tu) notes played half their written length, every note started and stopped by the tongue like double tonguing but alternating tu, ku and tu a vibration of the tongue, as if rolling the syllable rrrr

double tonguing fast alternating syllables, usually tu and ku triple tonguing flutter tongue