Jazz/Pop Articulation

Legato/Slurring:

No articulation, steady airstream.

Used in backing figures in Big Bands, usually long note lines. If used in a melodic line, might well be punctuated with breath accents. Rarely used at length especially in solos.

Legato Tonguing:

Very light tongue action. Try to keep the tongue a matter of only 5mm or so from the tip of the reed. Keep the tongue relaxed and try for tip-to-tip contact – tip of the tongue to tip of the reed (not somewhere down the face of the reed), possibly making contact equally with the tip of the reed and tip of the mouthpiece. The tongue should not linger on the reed, but be quickly on and off again. There should be no obvious silence or gaps between notes.

Used very much. Can be mistaken for slurring as a good legato articulation should be very smooth and light.

Jazz/Reverse Tonguing:

Tonguing quavers 2 and 4 in any group of 4, not 1 and 3 which will sound very classical. 2 and 4 sound jazzy as they emphasise the back-beat. This 2 and 4 has a natural groove whereas 1 and 3 feels stiff in comparison.

Possibly the most widely used articulation in jazz.

Dead/Stop Tonguing:

A muted effect to the note. Tongue to one side of the reed (still at the tip) so that the note is not stopped altogether, merely stifled a little, muted.

This is a bit like bad staccato! Repeat the word dunn, note how there is a definite attack (the D) but how there is no ending, merely a muffled nn sound. This is the effect we are going for.

Widely used by David Sanborn.

Staccato:

As legato tonguing, though the emphasis this time is on having more contact time with the reed, hence stopping vibration and creating silence – we are after a 50-50 split between note and silence.

Used occasionally (like punctuation) by Julian Cannonball Adderley.

Staccatissimo:

As above, but much shorter, with more of the given length of note being silence.

Slap Tonguing:

The tongue cradles the reed (making contact with most of the length of the reed) and is released to start the note, creating slap sound.

Widely used in the 1930s and 40s, and especially by Stan Getz this is a technique used to facilitate the production of low notes.

General:

Many amateur players use little articulation, concentrating on fast licks/patterns. Your playing will not sound authentic without good articulation. The best players use a variety of articulation.

Listen to Stan Getz, Cannonball Adderley, Paul Desmond, David Sanborn, Maceo Parker, Michael Brecker.

In fact, all of the greats use lots of articulation. Music is a language. Playing without articulation is akin to a drunk person talking to you in slurred speech.

Good articulation is the key to fluency in any language.