Articulation

Articulation in music generally refers to the use of staccato, legato, and accents (attack). It can also refer to vibrato. In spoken language, articulation refers to giving sounds the proper shape, so the listener can better understand what is being said. I think there is a correlation here. In music, articulation can help the listener better understand the feelings that the musician is trying to convey.

Ex1 - Staccato / Legato Scales

I call this the "crazy train" exercise, from the bass line of the Ozzy Osborne song. The goal is to become aware of how many degrees of long or short notes you can create in a particular context. It's also a listening and technique exercise.

Approach

Playing a scale is just cycling through pitches. We can apply that concept to other elements of music. At a given tempo, play a series of quarter notes. Play the first note very short (staccato). Play the next notes successively legato, until the notes are separated only by the attack. You don't have to change the pitch of the notes. Count how many degrees of staccato / legato you can play. Make sure every note is different in length. This is as much an exercise in controlling technique as it is an articulation exercise. Repeat the exercise going from legato to staccato.

Tips and Warnings

You may want to play this over a click track, to make sure that you are only changing the space between notes, and not the total length between notes.

You may want to record yourself, to make sure that you are not cheating, and also to make sure that you are only varying the duration of the notes. Make sure you can play even dynamics and even attack.

Ex2 - Patterns of Articulation

This exercise is a "teaching yourself things you already know exercise". It's possible to come up with fresh ideas by applying specific concepts to known lines or patterns.

Approach

Start with a known pattern, such as a major scale. Play the pattern with notes of equal duration, such as quarter notes or eighth notes. Apply a pattern of articulation to the pattern of notes. For example, play a major scale eighth notes using the articulation pattern of legato, legato, staccato. Repeat with a pattern of staccato, staccato, legato. Listen critically to the feel of landing on the notes with a different articulation.

Ex3 - Adopting Rhythmic Patterns

This exercise involves starting with a known rhythmic pattern, and using articulation to create a new rhythmic pattern, while retaining the feel of the original pattern.

Approach

Start with a known pattern, such as dotted-quarter, eighth, half in 4/4 time. Observe the eighth notes sub-divisions that are emphasized by the pattern. In this case, we have the downbeat of one, the upbeat of two, and the downbeat of three. Replace the original pattern with a pattern of all eighth notes, but make the emphasized notes from the original pattern legato, and the the rest of the note staccato. So, for this example, you would have an eighth note pattern of legato, staccato, staccato, legato, legato, staccato, staccato, staccato. Observe how the feel of the original pattern is preserved in the new pattern

Next Steps

Repeat this exercise, but change the pitches of the eighth notes to create a groove or melodic line