What Is Articulation In Music?

Music is a lot like a spoken language. It has grammar and structural rules that
we can use to create phrases and longer passages like movements and
symphonies. And just like language, there are specific parameters that can tell
us how to play a specific note or chord

In this post we’ll focus on what articulation means in music, and the multiple
different types of articulation you could potentially see and how to play
them. 

Table of Contents
Definition of Articulation
In music, articulation is a lot like punctuation in language.

It tells us how to play a specific note or chord, outside of what specific note
to play and for how long.

For example, let’s take a short melody:

Melody without articulation

The notes are in specific lines and spaces in the staff, and this tells us the
pitches of the notes.

The stems and tails of each note tells us they are all quavers, or eighth notes.

The key signature on the left side (or lack thereof) tells us what key we’re in,
and the time signature tells us how many beats per measure to play or sing.

These things are always shown on all written music. 

Articulation is an additional parameter that tells the musician how to play or
sing the notes.

Each of the notes in the melody above can be played really short and
disjointed, or they can be long and flow into each other.

Some can be accented or quieted compared to others around it, and come can
be connected and some kept separate.

Let’s take a look at each type of articulation. 

Types of Articulation Marks 

There are seven main articulation marks used in music.

These are:

 slur
 staccato
 staccatissimo
 accent
 tenuto
 fermata
 marcato
There are others, such as ornaments and dynamic markings like sforzando
and (de)crescendo, but these are slightly different to articulation, and we’ll
focus on just these ones for this article.

Here is the melody above, using all seven of the articulation marks listed:

Melody with articulation

Slurs (Legato)
A slur, also sometimes called a phrase mark, is the only type of articulation
listed here that covers more than a single note.

It indicates to the musician that they should play or sing multiple notes as one
connected phrase.

For example, singers and wind instrument players shouldn’t take a breath
between notes connected by a slur, and string instruments should play all of
the notes with the same bow stroke.

This is called playing a phrase legato. 

In the melody above, the slur is the curved line between the two notes at the
end (D – C).

You can also have slurs that last for more than 2 notes, such as the ones in the
melody below: 

Melody using slurs (legato)

Slurs are always between notes that are different pitches.

Don’t get confused with tied notes which are notes that are the same pitch.

A good example of the use of slurs in music is the start of Mendelssohn’s

“The Hebrides”.

Each of the phrases are connected by slur markings and played legato: 
.Staccato
The opposite of playing legato is to play a note staccato.

From the Italian word for “detached”, staccato means to play a specific note
or group of notes separate from each other.

Every note that has a staccato marking (a dot above or below the note
head) is played very short and is not to be attached to the note after it. 
The first note of the main melody above has a staccato mark below it.

Here’s another example, in which all notes are played staccato.

Notice how when the stems of the note face down, the staccato dot is above
the note head, and it’s below the note head when the stem faces up:

Melody using Staccato

Here is an example from the beginning of Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No.
3 in C min”.

The descending lines in bars 2-3 and 6-7 are all played staccato: 

Staccatissimo
In Italian, the suffix “-issimo” means “very” or “really”,
so staccatissimo means to play the notes very staccato.
This means extra short and keep each one really detached from the ones
around it. 

In the main melody written above, the staccatissimo marking is below note
#5 (the A) – it looks like a small, filled-in pyramid.

Here is a short melody with all staccatissimo markings.

Again, like all of the articulation marks, it is written above notes with the
stems pointing down and above notes with the stems pointing up:

Melody using Staccatissimo

An example of staccatissimo can be found in Beethoven’s “Sonata No. 21 in
C Major”, at the 0:46 second mark, starting at bar 30: 

‘Sonata No. 21 in C Major’ by Beethoven

Accent
An Accent mark looks like this: >.

It is a mark that tells the musician to accent a specific note by playing or

singing it louder, and with a stronger attack, than notes that don’t have an
accent.

It doesn’t affect the length of the note, meaning you don’t have to make it
shorter than written (like staccato) or longer than written (like legato). 
The third note of the main melody has an accent mark over it.

Here’s a short melody with all the notes accented:

Johannes Brahms – ‘Piano Concerto No. 2 in Bb Major’

Marcato
A Marcato articulation is like an accent mark but more intense.

If staccatissimo means “very staccato”, think of Marcato as “very accented”.

It means to play the note or chord louder and more forcefully than the notes
around it.

It looks like a standing up accent mark: ^. 

The fourth note (the B) of the main melody above has a marcato mark above
it.

Here is another example.

Notice that, unlike the accent mark, the marcato marking is always above the
note it articulates, even if the note’s stem points upwards: 
Melody using Marcato
Tenuto
A Tenuto marking looks like a small line either above or below the note
(again, depending on which way the stem is facing).

Meaning “to hold” in Italian, it is a direction for the musician to sustain the
note that it’s marking for its full value.

This is different from legato playing, with slur markings, because you don’t
necessarily merge one note into the following, and it’s different from staccato
as well because you don’t want to shorten the note at all. 

It can sometimes mean to play the note slightly louder and longer than the
notes around it, making it stand out, or potentially hold the note a bit longer
than it’s written.

The third note of the main melody above has a tenuto marking, as does each
note in this melody here: 
Melody using Tenuto
Scriabin uses tenuto markings in the opening piano solo in his “Piano
Concerto in F# Minor”, starting at 0:23: 

Fermata (Pause)
A fermata is the only articulation mark that really changes the beat of the
music being played.

Also referred to as a pause or hold, it indicates to the musician that they

should hold that specific note, chord, or rest for longer than it’s typical value.

Sometimes this can be a small difference, and the note only played a bit
longer than normal, but sometimes the conductor or player can hold the note
for as long as they want, causing the music to feel like it’s suspended, and
build anticipation for the next note. 

The fermata in the main melody above is on the third to last note, the G.
It looks like an open circle facing down with a small dot inside it.

Here is another example of it (usually it is found right before or at the end of

a melody or a movement): 
Melody using a Fermata (pause)
Here is an example from Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No. 3 in C min”.

Listen for the chord hold at 33:55 and then the single note hold (on G) at
34:14:

Instrument Specific Articulation

Articulation can vary depending on which instrument you are playing, or if
you’re singing in a choir.

For example, woodwind and brass players create articulation by tonguing,

which is the use of the tongue to create and restrict airflow.

For these instruments you can play legato by using the flat of your tongue,
like in the word “la”, or play staccato by using the tip of the tongue, as in
“tah”. 

With a stringed instrument, you can play pizzicato, which is plucking the

string with your finger.

This causes the notes to sound staccato, but is different from regular staccato
markings.

Playing with a bow rather than your finger is called arco, and you can play
staccato, tenuto, or legato all using a bow as well.

Legato is when you let the string vibrate between notes, so that the sound of
the note is sustained until the next note is played.
To play more staccato, touch the string with your hand or the bow to stop it
from vibrating in between notes.

That’s it for Articulation

There are a lot of different articulation markings, and even many more rare
ones that this article doesn’t cover.

They can also be used to different effect in different context, so always check
with the conductor or other players when you come across an articulation
mark, to make sure you know what they expect for it.