Articulation (comprehensive)

What does 'Accent' mean in music?

• Very detached
• Emphasis given to a note
• Patterns that have a combination of slurring and tonguing, such as two slurred, two tongued
• How a musical note ends

What does 'Attack' mean in music?

• Play the instrument with either the hand or a dampening device pressed against it to muffle the sound
• A device that moves the piano’s mechanism so that only one string is struck instead of three, creating a dull and soft sound.
• How a musical note begins
• Smoothly and connected

What does 'Decay, Release' mean in music?

• How a musical note ends
• Play with the bow
• Beginning, interrupting or stopping the flow of sound with the tongue against the mouthpiece or reed
• Patterns that have a combination of slurring and tonguing, such as two slurred, two tongued

What does 'Marcato' mean in music?

• Detached, play each note with a separate bow stroke
• Sing with a loose glottal closure to create a creaky or cracking sound
• A device that prevents the strings from damping when the keys are released, sustaining the decay of every note
• Loud and forceful

What does 'Portamento' mean in music?

• Sing with a loose glottal closure to create a creaky or cracking sound
• A smooth slide from one note to the next
• A device that moves the piano’s mechanism so that only one string is struck instead of three, creating a dull and soft sound.
• Pluck the strings

What does 'Portato, Mezzo Staccato' mean in music?

• Play the note for its full duration
• Moderately detached
• Pluck or bow the strings very near the bridge
• Play the instrument with either the hand or a dampening device pressed against it to muffle the sound

What does 'Sforzando' mean in music?

• Sing with a loose glottal closure to create a creaky or cracking sound
• Play a single note with force
• Pluck the strings by sweeping a finger, thumb or plectrum across the strings rapidly
• Pluck the strings

What does 'Slur' mean in music?

• Bounce the bow lightly on the string
• An alternating pattern of tonguing using a forward stroke followed by a backward stroke. Often described as “ta–ka–ta–ka”
• Play the notes in a connected way
• Pluck the strings by sweeping a finger, thumb or plectrum across the strings rapidly

What does 'Tenuto' mean in music?

• A device that prevents the strings from damping when the keys are released, sustaining the decay of every note
• Sing with heavy breath flow
• Play the note for its full duration
• Increased accent on notes, to “reinforce”

What does 'Legato' mean in music?

• Moderately detached
• Smoothly and connected
• Sing with heavy breath flow
• A cymbal is struck with a mallet and then immediately dampened with the hand.