Join Rick Schmunk for an in-depth discussion in this video Articulations, part of Learning Music Notation.
- [Instructor] In combination with dynamic markings…and text expressions,…articulations and slurs indicate to musicians…how a composer intends a piece to be performed.…First, articulations are symbols or markings…that communicate how an individual note…is to be bowed, picked, or tongued.…Let's take a look at the most common articulations…and related symbols.…So articulation placement is important.…They typically go on the note head side,…not on the stem side,…and they are centered above the note head,…and for the most part,…these symbols go outside the staff.…
So an articulation probably everybody's heard of…is the staccato marking,…and that's simply a dot that goes…above or below the note head.…Now the meaning of this is to play the note…half the value that it's actually notated at.…So in this case,…we see quarter notes with staccato markings.…Now you could roughly get the same thing…by notating an eighth note and then an eighth rest,…and another eighth note and an eighth rest and so on,…but that's a much more complicated thing to read.…
It starts with notating pitch (clefs) and duration, including note lengths and rests. He moves into discussing flats, sharps, naturals, and key signatures, and the unique symbols for musical expression, including dynamics and articulations. He goes over notating chords and chord progressions, and the addition of vocals and lyrics. The course wraps with some score formatting tips and notation examples for piano, guitar, and drums, which pull together all the information into complete, publication-worthy pieces of sheet music.
- Notating pitch with clefs
- Notating duration
- Adding time signature and bars
- Using dots and ties
- Modifying pitch
- Notating scales
- Communicating expressions such as tempo and performance
- Notating chord progressions
- Notating vocals and lyrics
- Formatting a score
Skill Level Beginner
1. Notating Pitch
2. Notating Duration and Rhythm
3. Modifying Pitch and Scales
4. Communicating Expression
5. Notating Form
6. Notating Chords and Chord Progressions
7. Slash and Rhythmic Notation
8. Vocal Music and Lyrics
9. Score and Part Formatting
10. Notation Examples
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