Slur & Phrase

In lesson 4, we discussed the way in which beats can vary in strength and how, through a suitable choice of time signature, the composer can make clear the rhythmic structure, formed by a particular pattern of strong, medium and weak beats. On many musical instruments there are limits to the strength of a beat, if all one can do is to blow, bang or scrape more or less enthusiastically. Wind-instruments blown hard play sharp and the tone is coarsened. The same instruments blown too gently will tend to play flat or not at all. However, a performance in which all the notes are equally loud or soft is immeasurably duller than one where there is dynamic variety.

The dynamic detail can be in the note's strength when it starts, whether or not it is preceded or followed by a silence, the note's length and the mean strength of the note while it sounds. All these can be determined with suitable notation and we will look at each of these in turn.

Music, like written prose, tends to be made up of short sequences we call phrases. Consider Swift's 'A satirical Elegy on the Death of a late Famous General' (1772) - actually, on the death of Marlborough, the victor at Blenheim - in which each line is a single phrase.

But what of what, his friends may say,
He had those honours in his day,
True to his profit and his pride,
He made them weep before he dy'd.

Each line expresses a single idea which is the fundamental characteristic of a phrase. Of course, the choice of phrase length is not 'set in stone'. One might 'feel' that a more natural phrase length here is the pairing of lines (1 with 2, 3 with 4).

This freedom to feel poetry in various different ways occurs also in music and phrasing is a matter best left to the performer to communicate to the listener as he (or she) thinks best. We will return to this point when discussing the setting of words to music where the phrasing of the words tends to find its mirror in the shaping of the musical line.

The desire of editors and composers to make their intentions clear down to the very last detail includes the use of large sweeping 'slur-like' lines called 'phrase marks'. Slurs, which tend to embrace a smaller number of notes, help to shape the musical line even within broader phrasing marks and performers must be able to distinguish between them. On wind instruments, all the notes under the slur except for the first, are untongued, the breath flowing continuously while the fingers move. On stringed instruments, the equivalent effect is achieved by using a single sweep of the bow for each slur or phrase. On keyboard instruments the notes are played legato (smoothly) and with a light touch.

The slur removes the attack from the start of each note under it except for the first so providing a contrast in strength, a dynamic variety, between the first and the later notes. If slurring is to be effective, or indeed a distinction made between different phrases, the performer must avoid playing unslurred notes too smoothly. Evidence from the eighteenth century suggests that music then was played in a more detached manner than we associate, say, with the repertoire of the late-Romantic.

Daniel Gottlob Türk writing in his Clavierschule (1789) says that:

Reference:

François Couperin: L'Art de toucher le clavecin

The advantages of a detached manner when playing in a large acoustically resonant building become clear. When the notes 'ring on' around the room, the harmonies overlap instead of flowing neatly one into the other. Slurring, in such surroundings, would obsure the line, and so the performer has to be able to adjust the performance to the demands made by the surroundings by ignoring slur and phrase marks that may, in this situation, have become redundant.

Slurs are distinguishable from ties, which we met in lesson 2, because ties only link together notes of identical pitch (e.g. B to B) while slurs never link together notes of identical pitch.

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.

Tenuto can mean either hold the note in question its full length (or longer, with slight rubato) or else play the note slightly louder. In other words, the tenuto mark is sometimes interpreted as an articulation mark and sometimes as a dynamic mark. When it appears in conjunction with an accent mark, it is of course taken to be an indication of articulation, and, conversely, when it appears in conjunction with a staccato mark, it is taken to be an indication of a slight dynamic accent. When it appears by itself, its meaning must be determined by its musical context.

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) placed above or below the note. 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 were it unmarked, while staccatissimo means hold the note for one quarter of its time value.

We give a number of examples below.

Slurs & Staccato

Portato or articulated legato, notated as a slur over a series of notes each bearing a staccato mark, employs the staccato mark so that it 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), inégal 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. égal. See lesson 20 for more information about égal and inégal.

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	staccatissimo	strong accent martelato	normal accent marcato	legato accent tenuto portamento
light accents		strong accent	medium accents

combined accents (1-8)
strong & staccato staccato duro	strong & legato legato duro	strong & staccatissimo staccatissimo duro	legato & staccato portamento & staccato portato mezzo staccato	legato & staccatissimo mezzo staccatissimo	marcato & staccato staccato forzato	marcato & legato	marcato & staccatissimo
strong accents			medium accents

Articulation on Wind Instruments

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

References:

• Articulation on the concertina
• Combining long tones and burst-tonguing - to assist beginning instrument players eliminate excessive breaths while articulating

Articulation on Stringed Instruments

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

For those interested in the history of bowing and fingering markings in string music, we refer you to this excellent article, Bowing and fingering instructions in string music during the 18th and early 19th centuries by Duncan Druce and Clive Brown.

String players will apply bowing marks to indicate where the bow is to move up or down.

An "up-bow" is marked with a  V , and the "down-bow" is marked with a   .

The modern bow-hold has the bow held between the tips of the fingers and thumb with the palm of the hand facing down towards the floor. "Up" means start at the tip. "Down" means start at the frog which is where your right hand is. On most modern stringed instruments the "down-bow" is stronger than the "up-bow", this due mainly to the greater weight or downward force the player can apply with the bow to the string with the heel (near the frog) as opposed to the tip.

However, on the viol, where the bow is held differently, effectively lying in the palm of the hand with the palm facing upwards, the "up-bow" is stronger than the "down-bow" and the bow action will be reversed.

The freedom to bow without a change in direction, for example on long sustained notes, is more limited on the cello and double-bass than on the violin or viola because cello and double-bass bows are shorter. Where many notes are played under a single bow stroke, the player will mark the part with a slur. Because the "up" and "down" strokes have different strengths, it is natural to want to use the stronger stroke for strong beats and the weaker stroke for weaker beats. On modern stringed instruments, the performer naturally plays an upbeat with an "up-bow" unless indicated otherwise. On the viol, the same upbeat would be played with a "down-bow".

String players use a number of bowing terms which we list below:

In addition to the many different types of bowing, stringed instrument players may also use a variety of plucking actions when articulating notes on their instruments. We summarise some of these below:

Articulation & Phrasing on Percussion Instruments

Articulation and phrasing markings can be helpful even in a situation where a true legato or control over different articulations can seldom be achieved. Percussionists employ a range of dynamics, changes in where an instrument is struck (beating spot or playing area), and through his or her choice of mallet. The composer is encouraged to write slurs into a glockenspiel or even a snare drum part; the slur effect can still be achieved even though each note has to be articulated, and the effect will not be as clear as it would be on a wind or string instrument. Players of instruments that are both resonant and have pitch-bending capabilities (for example, timpani) can produce a true slur: this is executed by striking the instrument once and then varying the pitch (on timpani, using the pedal or the taps). Clearly, this effect depends on the strength and resonance of the struck note - the further the slurred note is from the original articulation (in time and in interval), the softer it will be. A slur alone will not indicate a glissando; glissandi must be notated separately. Rolls can connect notes and create a slur-like effect.

References:

• Percussion instruments from which some of this information has been taken
• Fundamentals of Stroke, Articulation and Tone from which some of this information has been taken
• When the Clock Strikes Me - Concerto for percussion & orchestra by Nigel Westlake.

Dot & Wedge in Clavichord Music

Paul Simmonds, the English clavichordist, wrote to the Clavichord Discussion List about the use of the 'dot' and the 'wedge' in clavichord playing:

"Türk's Clavierschule is a good source for clear explanations. He sometimes takes CPE (Bach) to task for being unclear. There is an English translation by Raymond Haggh, University of Nebraska Press, 1982, which I fear is out of print, but libraries should have it, or you may be able to get a second hand copy. A facsimile is available from Bärenreiter if your German is up to it. [see also Clavierschule, Daniel Gottlob Türk (1789) - translation of extracts, from German to French, by Jean-Pierre Coulon]

Briefly, Türk says that there is little difference between the dot and the wedge, except that 'some would like to indicate by the stroke that a shorter staccato be played than that indicated by the dot'. Türk says that an accent is not implied by this, but that one hears all detached notes played loudly by some players. I still wonder about Müthel's use of the wedge, as he often uses it on the first note of a slurred group (if anyone has any thoughts on this I would like to hear them - maybe Müthel did imply an accent with his use of the wedge).

E.W. Wolf (1785) is also a good source for information on détaché, agreeing by and large with Türk (English translation by Christopher Hogwood in CPE Bach Studies, ed. Stephen Clark, Clarenden Press 1988). Wolf also makes no distinction between the dot and the dash and describes in detail how and where the détaché should be performed. This source is in general an excellent short guide to eighteenth-century clavichord playing. American colleagues could take a look at the original in the Library of Congress. Marpurg also gives either the dot or wedge for staccato (Abstossen) making no apparent distinction between the two."

Pedalling on the Piano

C.P.E. Bach commented that if his lessons published in his Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen (Berlin, 1753) were to be played on a harpsichord with more than one keyboard:

The problem of fixed dynamics on the harpsichord, the principal domestic keyboard instrument, became even greater as the idea of dynamic expression or Affekt in music became increasingly important in music of the late baroque. For some early keyboard makers, the solution lay in changing the material of the plectrum, that part of the harpsichord directly in contact with the string.

M. Trouflaut writing in 1773 describes Pascal Taskin's invention, the peau de buffle.

The Piano-forte moved on, picking up ideas from other instruments on the way. Two German makers, Franz Jakob Späth (died 1752) and his son-in-law Christoph Friedrich Schmahl (1739-1814), made an instrument called the Tangentenflügel in which small staves of wood, moving vertically like a harpsichord jack, struck rather than plucked the strings. By striking the keys more forcefully, the volume of sound produced could be increased so the instrument had some dynamic possibilities. Later pairs replaced individual strings and a pedal mechanism allowed the player to vary the volume by changing whether the staves struck one or both of the strings. Other pedals raised dampers, to let the sound ring on even after the key had been released by the player, or were used to reproduce the 'harp' effect found on harpsichords when extra damping is given to the strings to produce a pizzicato.

These then were the early uses to which keyboard makers put pedals in order to increase the dynamic and tonal capabilites of their instruments. We know that Mozart thought highly of Späth's Tangentenflügel before he became acquainted with the Piano forte of Johann Andreas Stein (1728-92), one of the finest maker of organs, harpsichords, clavichords and pianos of the eighteenth century. Stein's instruments incorporated levers operated by the player's knee rather than by the player's feet. Stein's daughter Nannete, and her husband Andreas Streicher, established one of the most important Viennese piano-making firms. It was the Streicher's personal friendship with Beethoven that encouraged Beethoven to use the Streicher instruments even after he came into contact with instruments made by Erard, one made for Haydn in 1801 and the second given to Beethoven himself in August 1803. By this time all pianos were fitted with foot operated pedals and the knee lever had passed into history.

Grand Piano (1796) | more information... Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Piano designed by John Broadwood and Son, English, active 1795-1808 Cameos and medallions designed by Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) Case decoration by Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806) Veneered case of satinwood, tulipwood, and purpleheart with Wedgwood cameos and medallions Piano: 97 7/8 x 43 7/8 x 35 7/8 in. (248.7 x 111.5 x 91.2 cm) Detail of lilac Wedgwood medallion: c. 3 in. across (7.6 cm) George Alfred Cluett Collection, given by Florence Cluett Chambers Acquired in 1985

The Pedal and Pedalling on the Modern Piano

The article below is taken from The Pedal and Pedalling on the Modern Piano and from a number of other resources about pedalling on the piano.

The Pedal in Practice

Although it was Beethoven who first made significant use of the pedal in performance and in his piano compositions, it was pieces like the piano nocturne or "night piece", a form inherited from the Irish composer John Field (1782-1837) and to which Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) brought the melodic inspiration he drew from Italian opera (particularly Bellini) and his own unique harmonic idiom, where the possibilities provided by the pedal were to be fully explored. The graceful melody of the D-flat major Nocturne Op. 27, no. 2, 1835, stated three times enhanced by thirds, sixths, fioriaturas (written embellishments) and intense chromaticism, uses surprising harmonic changes to add to the passionate climax; the subtle pedalling effects of the coda point towards the pianistic colours of Debussy.

The art of pedalling was something Debussy felt strongly about as Eberhardt Klemm mentions in Claude Debussy - Piano Works, Vol. 5: Études : Concluding Remarks

John Tilbury discussing the piano music of Cornelius Cardew remarks that the pedal is being used to modulate piano tone. The precise aspects of sonority and resonance are sometimes indicated - in February Pieces, for example, where subtle modifications in the timbral quality of sustained sounds are introduced as they decay, the harmonics being altered after the initial attack through use of pedalling and of silently depressed keys. This goes straight to the heart of the characteristic resonance of the piano and the way it is actually heard and the role the pedal plays in the instrument's tonal and timbral response.

The Digital Piano and Pedalling

Dr. Virginia Houser, Kansas State University, in her article entitled Do you want an elementary student to have a digital keyboard for home practice? admits that digital keyboards have come a long, long way in recent years. Their sounds are amazingly close to that of a piano; after all, many use actual sound samples from acoustic grand pianos. They stay in tune. They are portable. They generally cost less than a piano. The most expensive ones offer touch-sensitive (also called velocity-sensitive) and weighted wooden keys quite similar to an acoustic piano. Digital pianos have one to three pedals which simulate those on an acoustic. They can also be equipped with headphones which allow private practice. Most even offer instrumental sounds and percussion effects which titillate many students. Even with all the digital pluses, however, she prefer a student's primary practice instrument be a piano. Because of all those marvelous inner mechanical workings, the performer must engage with the instrument to create sound and effects in a way not possible on a digital instrument. There is also an unreproducible, resonant amplification resulting from vibrating strings and wood. Last but not least, subtleties in pedalling are all but impossible with an electronic instrument.

Table of Dynamic Markings

We set out below signs and marks that set or change the dynamic level during a piece of music. In some case, the dynamic level is related to the mood; in other cases the mark is much more direct.

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Table of More Common Dynamic Markings please refer to our music dictionary for other markings
ff.	fortissimo : very loud
f.	forte : loud
mf.	mezzo forte : moderately loud
mp.	mezzo piano : moderately soft
p.	piano : soft
pp.	pianissimo : very soft
also ffff., fff., ppp., pppp.	for greater dynamic range
fp.	forte immediately dropping to piano
crescendo, cresc.	increasingly powerful
decrescendo, decresc.	decreasingly powerful
diminuendo. dim.	decreasingly powerful
	narrow to wide : crescendo
	wide to narrow : diminuendo or decrescendo
marcato, marc.	marked or emphasised
sf.	sforzato : force
sfz.	subito forzato or sforzando : with sudden energy or impulse
sfp.	sforzato or sforzando immediately dropping to piano
fz.	forza, forzando : forced, sudden accent
rfz.	rinforzando : reinforcing
calando	decreasing tone and speed
incalzando	increasing speed and tone
con sordino (sordini)	with the mute(s)
dolcissimo, dolciss.	very gently, very sweetly
leggiero	light, delicate
pacato	calm, quiet
mancando, morendo, perdendosi, smorzando	waning, dying away
martellato	hammered out
mezza voce, sotto voce	in an undertone
risvegliato	with increased animation
senza sordini	without mutes
strepitoso	noisy, boisterous
tacet	it is silent
tutta forza	as loud as possible
una corda	use the soft pedal on the piano

Table of General Musical Markings

We set out below a list of general musical markings that are commonly found in published music.