Articulation

How specific notes or passages are played or sung

Articulation in music refers to the way in which individual notes or sounds are played on an instrument, including their duration, intensity, and connection to surrounding notes. Musicians use various techniques, such as fingering, tonguing, embouchure, or breath control, to produce different types of articulations, such as staccato, legato, accent, tenuto, or hooking. Different articulations can produce vastly different timbres and musical effects.

Example of Articulation

Articulation - Musical Elements

Tutor's Video (Yanny Cheung)

Tutors

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Frankie Chan

California Baptist University (US), Hong Kong Baptist University

Master

Violin, Western Music Theory

Annette Chan

Hong Kong Baptist University

Bachelor

Flute, Piano Accompaniment

Marius Ho

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The Education University of Hong Kong

Master (Current)

Flute

Jan Au

Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (UK), The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

Master

Cello

Joey Ho

The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

Bachelor

Violin, Viola, Western Music Theory

William Lee

The University of Texas at Austin (US), Hong Kong Baptist University

Master

Violin, Viola

Articles

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Canon in D

Canon in D, one of the most widely known classical music pieces of contemporary times, is composed by German composer Johann Pachelbel. The original version of Canon in D is composed for three violins, accompanied by one (or more) bass instrument(s). Over time, the piece has been arranged into various versions, such as piano solo and orchestral versions. The exact date of its composition is not recorded but it is generally believed to be composed between 1680-1706.

G Song by Terry Riley

As an iconic American composer, Terry Riley (born 1935) is always considered as a minimalist. However, this kind of thoughts would be ignoring part of his creativity. In fact, Riley added plenty elements in his compositions since 1970s, especially when he started collaborating with the Kronos Quartet. Riley's composing style is very extensive, including improvisation, polyrhythm and jazz. He adopted classical elements, such as instrumentation, musical forms, structure and tonality. He also combined the elements from different periods to create unique musical textures. This research focuses on Terry Riley’s String Quartet, G Song. The research will be divided into two parts. The first part introduces Riley’s life and the background of G Song. The second part focuses on music analysis, including the musical structure "Two forms in one work"; The harmony "Unresolved Dissonance"; The rhythm "Metric Modulation"; The baroque "Canon"; The modern "Pointillism". The purpose of this study is to discuss how Riley combined classicism and modernism into a work, and discuss why the statement "Terry Riley is considered as minimalist" would be ignoring part of his story.

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer, the predominant musical figure during the transition between the Classical to Romantic eras. He occupies an unprecedented dominance in the history of Western music history, and has been widely regarded as the greatest, most influential and most popular musician who ever lived.

Beethoven's music inherited the artistic atmosphere of Haydn and Mozart, penetrated the desire for dignity, vented the anger tortured by fate, and demonstrated his determination to fight with fate.

Compared to other musicians, Beethoven is effectively to interact the philosophy of life with audience through music. Although he was not a romantic, he had become the object followed by other romantics.

As a musician, Beethoven suffered from ear diseases. However, he was unwilling to succumb to fate, vowing to take fate by the throat, and continue to complete his career. In the last ten years of his life, without hearing any sound, his compositions influenced the development of music for nearly two hundred years.