Dynamics, articulation and form
Articulation
Articulation is the way notes are joined or separated: connected, short, or stressed. It is shown by signs at the notes — a slur, a dot, a small wedge.
Dynamics tell you how loud to play; articulation tells you how. A curve over several different notes is a slur: it means legato, connected, each note sounding until the next begins. A dot by the notehead means staccato: short and detached, with a little silence between the notes. A small wedge by the notehead is an accent: play this note louder than the others.
Do not confuse a slur with a tie: a tie joins two notes of the same pitch into one sound, while a slur joins different notes that you still play one by one, only smoothly.
Articulation changes the character of a tune although the notes stay the same: legato is a flowing line, staccato a set of light hops, an accent a bright point. Without these signs the same tune sounds flat.
What it sounds like
Legato sounds like one unbroken line, staccato like drops, an accent like a stressed word in a sentence.
Where it is taught: the studio’s interactive textbook, chapter 17, “Dynamics and articulation”.