In music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

, articulation refers to the musical direction performance technique which affects the transition or continuity on a single note or between multiple notes or sounds.

Types of articulations

There are many types of articulation, with each having a different effect on how the note is played. Some articulation marks include the slur

Slur (music)

A slur is a symbol in Western musical notation indicating that the notes it embraces are to be played without separation. This implies legato articulation, and in music for bowed string instruments, it also indicates the notes should be played in one bow; and in music for wind instruments, that the...

, phrase mark

Ligature (music)

In music notation, a ligature is a graphic symbol representing two or more notes performed in a single gesture, and on a single syllable, primarily in use ca. 800–1650 AD. They are characteristic of neumatic and mensural notation...

, staccato

Staccato

Staccato is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation it signifies a note of shortened duration and separated from the note that may follow by silence...

, staccatissimo

Staccatissimo

In musical notation, staccatissimo indicates that the notes are to be played extremely separated and distinct, a superlative staccato. This can be notated with little pikes over or under the notes, depending on stem direction, as in this example from Bruckner's Symphony No...

, accent

Accent (music)

In music, an accent is an emphasis placed on a particular note,either as a result of its context or specifically indicated by an accent mark.Accents contribute to the articulation and prosody of a performance of a musical phrase....

, sforzando, rinforzando, and legato

Legato

In musical notation the Italian word legato indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly and connected. That is, in transitioning from note to note, there should be no intervening silence...

. Each articulation is represented by a different symbol placed above or below the note (depending on its position on the staff).

Brass and woodwind instruments

Woodwind and brass

Brass instrument

A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...

 instruments generally produce articulations by tonguing

Tonguing

Tonguing is a technique used with wind instruments to enunciate different notes using the tongue on the reed or woodwind mouthpiece or brass mouthpiece. A silent "tee" is made when the tongue strikes the reed or roof of the mouth causing a slight breach in the air flow through the instrument. If a...

, the use of the tongue to break the airflow into the instrument.

For the use of the student musician in attempting to master articulations, certain palette cues may be given. For example, a traditional accent, represents usually given a palette representation in the form of the expression "dah". Reproducing this and other palette cues while pushing air through an instrument usually results in the correct sound, in this case a full, slightly louder note with a bit of space between it and the next one.

Bowed instruments

Bowed stringed instruments use different bowing

Bow (music)

In music, a bow is moved across some part of a musical instrument, causing vibration which the instrument emits as sound. The vast majority of bows are used with string instruments, although some bows are used with musical saws and other bowed idiophones....

 techniques to achieve different articulations.

Compound articulations

Occasionally, articulations can be combined to create stylistically or technically correct sounds. For example, when staccato marks are combined with a slur, the result is portato

Portato

Portato in music denotes a smooth, pulsing articulation and is often notated by adding dots under slur markings....

, also known as articulated legato. Tenuto markings under a slur are called (for bowed strings) hook bows. This name is also less commonly applied to staccato or martellato (martelé) markings.

Apagados

Apagados (from the Spanish verb apagar, "to mute") refers to notes that are played dampened or "muted," without sustain. The term is written above or below the notes with a dotted or dashed line drawn to the end of the group of notes that are to be played dampened. The technique is chiefly written for bowed or plucked instruments. Modernists refer to the apogado as "palm mute." On the guitar, the musician dampens the strings with the palm of the hand and plucks with the thumb. Strictly speaking, the term dampened is correct for this effect in music; since to mute means to silence. Illustration of the apagados may be found in the work of composer for Spanish guitar, Gerardo de Altona. See: http://www.mednetconnection.com/18051/18020.html