PERFORMANCE TIPS

ARTICULATION:  The long and short of it.  A dash (-) over (or under) note is a Tenuto. It  means the note should be played full value.  When there are several Tenuto notes strung together say “DO’ (instead of “to”) for each note.  This will make it easier to leave no space between notes.  The Slur(a curved line over or under a series of notes) means you do not tongue the notes inside the slur.  The Staccato (dot over or under note) means to make the note shorter than normal (about 50 to 65% of full note value).  If you get all the “Articulations” right the “Phrasing” in “Finlandia” will make sense.

PHRASING:  A musical phrase is like a phrase or sentence in language;  After a complete idea is expressed there is usually a slight pause or period.    However, “Finlandia” is a little unusual in its phrasing.  In measure #3 (also 11 and 19) the most common end of the musical phrase would be a whole note.  But instead it is a staccato quarter note followed by dotted half.  There is a special music meaning going on here(I really don't know what) so make the most of it.  Also, in the Melody part be careful in measures #14 and #22 and count carefully through the tied quarter note and dotted quarter.