Question 3. How loud should I play this note?
Putting emphasis on an individual note can change the nature of a piece of music. We
have already witnessed this in Chapter 2 (Pulse) when creating a difference between a
beat grouped in 3ʼs and a beat grouped in 4ʼs. The difference was created by simply
changing which “ch” was given the emphasis. The “ch” given the emphasis naturally be-
came the 1st beat of the bar. However, this kind of emphasis is not restricted to the first
beat of a bar; any note can be given emphasis through changing its volume.
In sheet music, there are 3 main instructions for how give such dynamic emphasis to an
individual note:
Accent = sudden emphasis on a note
Tenuto = leaning on a note
sforzando = play a note suddenly with force
It’s Time To Test Your Knowledge
Have a go at the Lesson 5 Worksheet in your
workbook