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

1 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

1 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)

staccato staccatissimostrong accent

martelato

normal accent

marcato

legato accent tenuto

portamento

light accents strong accent medium accents

accent name description

staccato accent 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

normal accent moderately sharp attack that can be used at any dynamic level from pianissimo to fortissimo

legato accent this can be used at any dynamic level and is a slight stress

without a noticable attack and held to the full duration of the note

combined accents (1-8)

strong

& staccato staccato

duro

strong &

legato

strong & staccatissimo

legato or portamento & staccato

mezzo staccato

legato & staccatissimo

marcato &

staccatostaccato forzato

marcato &

legato

marcato & staccatissimo

strong accents medium accents

accent name description

strong & staccato accents

very percussive and shorter duration than notated

strong & legato accents

very percussive while retaining full duration of notation

strong & staccatissimo accents

strongest percussive attack possible with an exaggerated short duration

legato & staccato accents

stressed and moderately short, separated from next note

legato and staccatissimo

stressed and quite short

normal & staccato accents

moderately percussive and short

normal & legato accents

moderately percussive with full note duration

normal & staccatissimo accents

moderately percussive with short note duration

Articulation on Wind Instruments ::

Key word: woodwind articulation

1 Articulation on Wind Instruments

We summarise below information about articulation and accent as applied to wind instruments.

woodwind articulation description

legato 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

soft or tongued legato every note is lightly tongued, with a softer syllable (du instead of tu)

staccato notes played half their written length, every note started and stopped by the tongue

double tonguing fast alternating syllables, usually tu and ku triple tonguing like double tonguing but alternating tu, ku and tu flutter tongue a vibration of the tongue, as if rolling the syllable rrrr