Articulation for Wind Players Jennifer Cloughly Creative Commons CC-BY

What is Articulation?

For a wind player (woodwinds or brass), articulation refers to the style with which a note is tongued or slurred. It can also have impact upon the length of a note. Articulation usually has the most to do with the attack or beginning of the note, but it sometimes impacts the ending of the note, too.

Some articulations may be performed slightly differently based upon whether the music is for Marching Band or Concert Band. A general rule of thumb is that Marching Band articulations need to be exaggerated (remember they have to be clear all the way up in the Press Box!)

The Articulations

Staccato If you see a note with a dot above or below it, that means the note is to be played staccato. Staccato means that the note is to be played in a separated, detached style. Try not to think “short” when you see staccato, but rather think about playing the note roughly half of its actual value.

Staccato In Marching Band, staccato notes will GENERALLY be played with more separation between them — think more about the “half the actual value” guideline when playing staccato outside. In Concert Band, staccato notes will GENERALLY be played with more of a bell tone shape and may be closer to two thirds of the actual value in some cases.

Staccato Use a “tee” syllable for staccato notes. Only the tip of your tongue (think one taste bud) will touch the top of your mouth/tip of your reed.

Legato If you see a note with a line above or below it, that means the note is to be played legato. Legato means that the notes will be very connected and smooth without any space in between them — BUT you will tongue each note gently!

Use a “dah” syllable for legato notes

Accents If you see a note with a symbol that looks like a tiny decrescendo OR an upside down “V” above or below it, that means the note is to be played accented. Accented notes are emphasized and should stand out from all the other notes. The emphasis comes on the attack or beginning of the note.

Regular Accents Regular accents look like they have a tiny decrescendo above or below them, and that is really helpful information because these are played as if they have a tiny decrescendo — stronger on the attack and less on the rest of the note. Use a “tah” — with emphasis on the “ah” syllable for regular accents.

Regular Accents In Marching Band, multiple regular accented notes GENERALLY will not have space in between them. In Concert Band, multiple regular accented notes will GENERALLY have a little space or lift in between them.

Rooftop Accents The accents with an upside down “v” are known as rooftop accents and are the strongest markings in music, giving the notes the most possible emphasis. Notes with rooftop accents are played with great emphasis and roughly half the actual length of the note.

Rooftop Accents Rooftop accents are played with a “TEE” syllable. This is a strong, emphatic “TEE” with emphasis on the ENTIRE syllable! Try not to confuse this “TEE” with the staccato “tee.” This “TEE” is strong; the staccato “tee” is light.

Slurs and Ties If you see notes with a curvy line above or below them, those notes have slurs or ties. In both slurs and ties, you only tongue the first note — the note where the curvy line starts — and the rest of the notes will be completely connected in the same phrase and breath without any interruption from the tongue.

Slurs You will know that the curvy line is a slur if different pitches are under the same curvy line. You will tongue only the notes with the red arrow. (Helpful hint: the red arrow won’t be in your music!)

Ties You will know that the curvy line is a tie if two or more of the same pitch are under the same curvy line. You probably guessed it — ties often make the note sound EXACTLY like a different kind of note; for instance, it is impossible to HEAR the difference between two quarter notes tied together and a half note!

Slurs and Ties Both slurs and ties will have the first note — the note where the curvy line starts — tongued with a regular “tah” syllable. Then just keep the air going as there won’t be a syllable for the other notes under the SAME curvy line!

Exercises

F or B Flat Remington Using the Up or Down F or B Flat Remington Exercise, play four quarter notes of each articulation pattern on each set followed by a whole note, then move to the next set. Use the following patterns: Regular (Ta), Staccato (Tee), Legato (Dah), Regular Accent (Tah), Rooftop Accent (TEE). Example: For the Down F Remington, you would play the following: 4 quarter note Fs on the articulation pattern, 4 quarter note Es on the articulation pattern, 4 quarter note Fs on the articulation pattern, and a whole note F. Then you would move down to F, E flat, F — and continue throughout the range of your instrument.

Scales Any South Carolina State Standard Major Scale can be turned into an articulation exercise. Pick a scale and an articulation pattern and play each pitch of the scale using that articulation pattern at a tempo of your choosing. Play the last pitch as a whole note with a characteristic tone. Then, pick another scale and another articulation pattern, and do the same thing. Continue until you have gone through your nine (9th and 10th graders) or twelve (11th and 12th graders) major scales!

Arpeggios Try your Major Arpeggios in 6/8 Meter for a great articulation workout! Play a triplet (three notes spaced out evenly over one beat) on each pitch of the arpeggio using one of the articulation patterns at a tempo of your choosing. Play the last pitch as three tied dotted half notes (nine beats — don’t forget to play all the way until you touch beat ten!). Keep rotating between your articulation patterns as you go through each of your required arpeggios.

Challenge Exercises If you’re really up for a challenging articulation workout, combine the Scale and Arpeggio exercises together going through each required scale and arpeggio before moving on to the next scale and arpeggio until you’ve done them all! You can also improvise your own articulation exercises!

Remember, articulations are a big part of bringing music to life — so make sure to pay close attention to them! They make a huge difference in how your ensemble sounds, how you sound as a soloist, how high your sight-reading scores are at auditions — and most of all, they make playing music even more fun!

Attributions All images are from Catherine Schmidt-Jones’ “Articulation” from http://www.oercommons.org/courses/articulati on/view, Creative Commons CC-BY.