Articulations
There are many different ways in which a note can be played, e.g. loud, soft, staccato, legato, etc. These different ways of playing a note are called articulations. The way you articulate notes can make a dramatic difference to the way the music sounds. There are specific markings which can be used in written music to indicate the articulation desired by the composer. Two examples of this are shown below. A short horizontal line directly above or below a note indicates that the note is to be held for its full written duration. This articulation is called tenuto. Another common articulation which you may already know is staccato, which means the note is to be played short and separate from other notes. Staccato is indicated by a dot placed directly above or below a note.
Most sheet music doesn’t contain detailed articulation markings. Sometimes staccato notes are marked, but tenuto usually isn’t. It is often assumed that most notes will be played tenuto (held for their written duration) The following example shows a G major scale alternating between tenuto (not indicated) and staccato. This is often described as longshort. Practice all your scales and arpeggios in this manner until it becomes natural to you.
Next, try reversing the articulations so that the staccato notes fall on each beat and the tenuto notes are off the beat. This is often described as short-long articulation. It is shown here using the A Blues scale.
The following riffs make use of both tenuto and staccato markings. Listen to the CD to hear the effect produced by the different articulations. Experiment with these articulations in your playing by applying them to phrases you already know well and then try improvising with them. The other important thing to do is to listen to albums featuring your favorite sax players and pay careful attention to how they articulate notes in different styles and situations. If you do this for even a few minutes each day, it won’t take long before you begin to instinctively know how to articulate notes as you come to them.
Notice the use of swung 16th notes once again in this example.
