music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, an accent is an emphasis, stress, or stronger attack placed on a particular

note Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened version ...

or set of notes, or chord, either as a result of its context or specifically indicated by an accent mark. Accents contribute to the articulation and prosody of a performance of a musical phrase. Accents may be written into a score or part by a

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

or added by the performer as part of his or her interpretation of a musical piece. Compared to surrounding notes: * A ''dynamic accent'' or ''stress accent'' is an emphasis using louder sound or a stronger sound, typically most pronounced on the attack of the sound. * A ''tonic accent'' is an emphasis on notes by virtue of being higher in pitch as opposed to higher in volume. * An ''agogic accent'' is an emphasis by virtue of being longer in

duration Duration may refer to: * The amount of time elapsed between two events * Duration (music) – an amount of time or a particular time interval, often cited as one of the fundamental aspects of music * Duration (philosophy) – a theory of time and ...

. Accents which do not correspond to the stressed beats of the prevailing

meter The metre (British spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) (from the French unit , from the Greek noun , "measure"), symbol m, is the primary unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), though its pref ...

are said to be syncopated. For example, in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

, also called 4/4, the most common metre in

popular music Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Fun ...

, the stressed beats are one and three. If accented chords or notes are played on beats two or four, this creates syncopation, as the music is emphasizing the "weak" beats of the bar. Syncopation is used in

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

and

traditional music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

. However, it is more prominent in

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

and

Latin music Latin music ( Portuguese and es, música latina) is a term used by the music industry as a catch-all category for various styles of music from Ibero-America (including Spain and Portugal) and the Latino United States inspired by Latin Amer ...

Agogic

There are four kinds of agogic accents : * Longer notated duration of a note, for example, a whole note/semibreve (four beats in common time) among quarter notes/crotchets (each of which gets one beat). * Extended duration of a note within its full-time value (without altering the tempo). For example, players of organ and harpsichord (which do not allow the use of dynamic accents) can emphasize one of a sequence of staccato quarter notes by making it less staccato (that is, making one note longer to emphasize it). * Extended duration of a note with the effect of temporarily slowing down the tempo (rubato or rallentando). * Delayed onset of a note, for example by doing a pause before starting a note.

Marks

music notation Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, an accent mark indicates a louder

dynamic Dynamics (from Greek δυναμικός ''dynamikos'' "powerful", from δύναμις ''dynamis'' "power") or dynamic may refer to: Physics and engineering * Dynamics (mechanics) ** Aerodynamics, the study of the motion of air ** Analytical dyna ...

and a stronger attack to apply to a single note or an articulation mark. : From left to right, the meanings of these articulation marks are explained below: * The most common symbol is the horizontal wedge, the first symbol in the diagram above. This is the symbol that most musicians mean when they say ''accent mark''. It indicates that the marked note should have an emphasized beginning and then taper off rather quickly. Though it is usually simply referred to as an accent. In jazz articulation, it is stated as "dah". * The vertical wedge, shown second, signifies that a note should be played ''

marcato Marcato (short form: Marc.; Italian for ''marked'') is a musical instruction indicating a note, chord, or passage is to be played louder or more forcefully than the surrounding music. The instruction may involve the word ''marcato'' itself writt ...

'' (Italian for "marked"). It is generally accepted to be as loud as an accent mark and as short as a staccato. Martellato, Italian for "hammered", is another name for the marcato symbol used primarily by orchestral string musicians as it refers to the specific bowing technique used to create marcato. In jazz articulation, marcato is typically stated as "daht" yet the performing musician may interpret the duration of the note differently depending on what style of jazz they are playing. * The dot, shown third, signifies that a note should be played '' staccato''. It indicates that the last part of a note should be silenced to create separation between it and the following note. For example, a written quarter note should be played as an eighth note followed by an eighth rest. The duration of a staccato note may be about half as long as the

note value In music notation, a note value indicates the relative duration of a note, using the texture or shape of the '' notehead'', the presence or absence of a ''stem'', and the presence or absence of ''flags/ beams/hooks/tails''. Unmodified note valu ...

would indicate, although the

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

and performers' taste varies this quite a bit. In jazz articulation, it is stated as "dit". * The ''

staccatissimo Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and has appeared in music ...

'' mark, shown fourth, is usually interpreted as shorter than the staccato, but composers up to the time of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

used these symbols interchangeably. A staccatissimo crotchet (quarter note) would be correctly played in traditional art music as a lightly articulated semi-quaver (sixteenth note) followed by rests which fill the remainder of the beat. * Finally, the ''

tenuto In musical notation, ''tenuto'' ( Italian, past participle of ''tenere'', "to hold"), denoted as a horizontal bar adjacent to a note, is a direction for the performer to hold or sustain a note for its full length. Its precise interpretation can ...

'' mark, shown fifth above, generally means that a note or chord is to be played at full length. In jazz articulation, it is stated as "doo". Even when these symbols are absent, experienced musicians will introduce the appropriate gesture according to the

style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

of the music. Mark McGrain writes about articulation on page 156 in his book ''Music Notation: Theory and Technique for Music Notation''. The marcato accent in the third mark shown is also known as the forzato accent. The notation commonly known as just an accent is also known as the sforzando accent. "Neither of these accents alter the durational value of the note or voicing they attend."McGrain, Mark (1990).
Music Notation: Theory and Technique for Music Notation
', p.165. Hal Leonard. . Another way to indicate accented notes (notes to emphasize or play louder compared to surrounding notes) is with ''sforzando'', ''sforzato'', ''forzando'' or ''forzato'' (abbreviated , , or ) ("forcing" or "forced").

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Accent (Music) Articulations (music) Rhythm and meter ca:Accent (música) fr:Accent (musique)

Agogic

Marks

See also

References