Techniques · Articulations ‹ All chapters

Articulations

Accents, staccato, ghost and dead notes, pick strokes, arpeggios and brushes.

Available on iPad, iPhone and Mac.

Your device
Writing tab on iPad, four notes on the G string with an accent, a staccato dot, a dead note drawn as an x and a ghost note in parentheses, the Articulation tools open.
An accent, a staccato, a dead note and a ghost note, from the Articulation tools.
Writing tab on iPad, four notes on the G string with an accent, a staccato dot, a dead note drawn as an x and a ghost note in parentheses, the Articulation tools open.
An accent, a staccato, a dead note and a ghost note, from the Articulation tools.
On this page

An articulation says how a note is struck: harder, shorter, muted, or the strings swept one after another. Reflow draws it on the staff, and accents, ghost and dead notes change how loud the note plays back.

The Articulation tools

Writing tab on iPad, the cursor on the first of four notes, the Articulation tools open: Accent, Marcato, Staccato, Ghost, Dead, then the pick strokes.
The Articulation tools, in Edit.
Writing tab on iPad, the cursor on the first of four notes, the Articulation tools open: Accent, Marcato, Staccato, Ghost, Dead, then the pick strokes.
The Articulation tools, in Edit.

In Edit, Articulation is among the tools’ categories. Its buttons, left to right:

  • Accent, Marcato and Staccato.
  • Ghost and Dead.
  • Pick Down and Pick Up.
  • Arpeggio Up, Arpeggio Dn, Brush Down and Brush Up.

Each applies to the note at the cursor, or to every selected note or beat. When the strip is wider than the screen, swipe it to see its last buttons.On the Mac they are in the Note menu (accents, ghost and dead notes) and the Effect menu (pick strokes, arpeggios and brushes), each button’s tooltip naming its item and its key.

Accents and staccato

  • Accent (> over the note): played a little louder.
  • Marcato (^): a strong accent.
  • Staccato (a dot): played short.

Choose the same button again to take it away. A beat holds one of each, so a note can be both accented and staccato. The keys: A for Accent, S for Staccato; Marcato is Note › Strong Accent.

Ghost and dead notes

  • Ghost: the note in parentheses, played very softly, felt more than heard.
  • Dead: a muted string, drawn as an x on the tab and the staff and played as a percussive click.

Both turn on and off. With a hardware keyboard, X writes a dead note at the cursor.On the Mac, X writes a dead note at the cursor, and G makes the note a ghost note.

Pick strokes

Pick Down (⊓) and Pick Up (V) mark the picking direction above the beat. A beat has one: choosing the other replaces it. On the Mac: Effect › Downstroke and Effect › Upstroke U.

Arpeggios and brushes

For a chord:

  • Arpeggio Up and Arpeggio Dn: a wavy line beside the chord, its notes to be played one after another, upwards or downwards.
  • Brush Down and Brush Up: a quick strum across the strings, down or up.

A beat has one of the four: choosing another replaces it.

Palm mute and let ring are in the Effect tools: see Effects.

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