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Chapter Four : Accents and Markings - Making Sense of "^" and "."
Often you will see little markings above and below the notes. I'll attempt to explain what the most common ones mean here.
Basics:
Imagine all of the different ways you can play or sing the same note. You can hit the note hard or soft, touch it quickly or more smoothly. Basically, accents and markings over and under notes serve this purpose. They explain how the note should be played.
Why Over? Why Under?
It's quite simple to understand why the marks are above a note or below. If the stem on the note goes up, then the mark goes below. If the stem goes down, the mark goes above. This isn't always the rule however. If the marking is going to be in the way of other notes, or hard to see, then sometimes it is placed at the end of the stem. This is fairly unusual however.
It doesn't really matter where the marking is, it is still played the same way.
examples of various types of accents.
The most common mark is probably the dot, called "stacatto." It means that
the note is to be played quickly, like you're touching a hot iron. It indicates that you
shouldn't hold the note at all, but just touch it quickly and let go. There should
be silent spaces between each note resulting in a detached sound.
The opposite sign is the legato
marking. It is represented by a dash over the note like this:
"-". It
means you hold the note for it's full value, and play it smoothly, blending it into the
next note in a rolling sort of way. I have found differing oppinions on the playing
of this marking. One book said this marking means the note is to be played firmly.
The angle markings are accents. The one which lays on it's side is simply called a strong accent- which means the note is given a stronger attack than normal. The one which stands up "^" is called "marcato." It means the note is to be "marked" or distinct from the others. Such a note is played with a very heavy attack.
Sometimes an apostrophe mark is written above a note or note stem, and this is called a dash ('). It is an extreme staccato marking and means the note is to be played very short and sharp.
Note: As you may have noticed in the examples above, you can combine accent markings. This merges the attributes of the two types together. A 'marcato accent' combined with a 'staccato' would be a very short marked accent.
Last Chapter: Dotted Notes - Reading Complicated Syncopation
Next Chapter: Reading Notes - Understanding the Basics of Pitches