Understanding theory
Add articulations to notes Play notes with character and style by familiarising yourself with articulations
W
hen you’re reading music, alongside being given general direction for the whole piece and technical instructions on what notes to play at what time, you will also come across markings which tell you how to play individual notes in terms of style. No matter what it is, you still need to know what kind of emphasis to put on it. This is where articulations come in.
These small symbols are found either above or below an individual note, depending on the position on the stave. Articulations can alter the way you play each note as well as create relationships between the notes themselves. Instructions such as staccato (shown by a small dot, but be careful not to confuse this with a ‘dotted note’) can tell you to play the notes in a detached and ‘clipped’ manner. Conversely, when you see the
markings for legato (lines which tie notes of different pitches together – but different to ‘ties’ which connect notes of the same pitch) you know to slur the notes, with no audible spaces. Some symbols direct you to add accents to a note, and there are some articulations (such as sforzando, or ‘sfz’) that deal with volume and are considered as dynamics. There are also articulations that cross the border into tempo territory, such as a fermata.
Time to articulate Play each note perfectly as you master the use of these musical characters
01 Staccato
02 Legato
A dot beneath (or directly above) a note instructs you to play it staccato, which means in a detached manner. This is then taken further with stacatissimo, which is symbolised by a small triangle beneath (or above) the note.
Here the notes are all joined with a curved line. This signifies legato, or ‘slurring’. When you see notes written like this, play the notes together in a long, lazy drag, with no gaps between notes until the end of the slur.
03 Accents
04 Tenuto
When you spot these little guys, they’re telling you to put some extra force on that one note. A normal accent (bar 1) has the triangle pointing right, but for a stronger accent (bar 2), you’ll see it reaching upwards. .
A simple line above or below the note instructs you to play the note for its full length. The note is to be separated from surrounding notes, which could mean that it’s emphasised or played louder.
54 Piano for Beginners
