This page completes the survey of performance directions with those relating to :-

•  Articulation
•  Instrument specific directions
•  Double and treble dotting

(1)  “Accent” - sudden sharp,heavy emphasis

(2)  “Staccato” - detached,dry

(3)   “Slur” - notes within slur to be played “legato” - smoothly with connect tone- with lift on final note of slur

(4) “Tenuto”  - hold onto tone/sound - opposite to staccato

(5)  Favourite of G5 examiners indicates a longer sound than “normal” staccato is required

(6)”Staccatissimo” (in modern usage) - extreme staccato, plays notes as briefly as possible

(7) “Fermata” - commonly called a “pause” - indicates to continue the sound longer than indicated by the note value at the discretion of the performer

(8) “Phrase mark” - indicates a group of musically related notes within the phrase,or the whole phrase, suggesting how the music should flow from one end to the other

Articulation

Instrument Specific

These typically have concentrated on performance directions to string players -  questions on “down bow” symbols have occurred 3 times in the last two years!

(1)  “Down bow”

(2)  “Up bow” - notes within slur to be played in one bow

(3) “Open string” - note to played on open E string

(4) “Pizzicato”  - pluck strings with fingers rather than bow

(5)  “(con) arco” - “with the bow” resume bowing notes after a period after playing “pizzicato”  “con legno” means “with wood” and is an instruction to play the notes with the wood of the bow rather than the hair!

(6)”Harmonic” - play the note as a harmonic note.

This piece was written for violin and to know (3) was an “open string” and (6) was an “harmonic” direction you need to know the tunings of the violin strings.

Here’s the tuning of strings  complete string family, written from the lowest pitched string upwards:-

Violin  - G,D,A,E  - in 5ths starting with G below middle C

Viola -   C,G,D,A  - in 5ths a 5th below the violin

Cello  - C,G,D,A  -  in 5ths an octave below the viola

Double bass - E,A,D,G  - in 4ths starting at E1

Guitar - E,A,D,G,B,E - mostly in 4ths, one 3rd starting at E2

Double dotting

This is strictly a “rhythm” question but is included here for convenience and because questions on this aspect are always presented in the “general knowledge” question 4.

Well just as you can “dot” any note value to  increase its note duration by half as much again, you can “double dot” any note value to further increase its duration by another “half as much again” - i.e. by another quarter . So a double dotted note has “one and three quarters” the duration of the written note. Double dotted crotchets are surprisingly common - you’ve probably played loads but never overlooked the notation.  You can “triple dot” - meaning you get a note one and seven eighths the duration of the written note.