Welcome back and today we will discuss a major element in ones technique that may improve your musical performance.
This post covers the importance of the correct use of articulation in your music.
Articulation- noun
a: the act of giving utterance or expression
b: the act or manner of articulating sounds
c: an articulated utterance or sound
The style of your music will determine what style of articulation you should use. If you are playing a march, you need to start each note with a defined, strong articulation and making each note distinct and precise. If on the other hand you are performing a solo such as you have downloaded, your tonguing style will match the emotion of the piece and you should use connected notes as well as non-accented starts for every note.
Play the first recorded example marked “as written” and observe the distance between each note. You should hear a space between each note which is typical for younger players. Most of the playing by younger performers is in marching band which requires a strong, and sometimes separated articulation. But in the example we are using, the musical style requires a very sustained, uninterrupted connection from note to note. By articulating notes as performed in the “played as written” example the listener hears the music more like a march than a beautiful, passionate vocal number.
To accomplish the more connected style, instead of using the syllable “tah” to start each note, replace it with the syllable “dah”. Eventually you may be able to improve your articulation by replacing the “dah” with the syllable “lah” which is even more subtle and softer attack.
In addition to changing your articulation when starting each note, consciously focus on trying to connect every note. The closer you are able to control these articulation, the closer your sound will get to resemble a slurred sound.
Remember- Softer attacks and notes closer to each other with as little space as possible.
