Accent
A small sideways V (>) above or below a note is an accent: that note is played with more stress than those around it.
Easily confused with
How to read it
How strong the stress is depends on the music around it: an accent in a soft passage is milder than one in a loud one. The letters sf, sfz and fz (sforzando) mean the same kind of accent on a single note or chord. An upright wedge (^), which the SMuFL font standard names marcato, is also used.
Look-alikes
A diminuendo hairpin is the same shape drawn longer, running under several notes. A short horizontal dash over a note (tenuto) asks for slight stress and full length instead.
Read next
- Next in Music symbolsTie and slurA curved line between notes is a tie or a slur. A tie joins two notes of the same pitch into one longer note. A slur joins notes of different pitches, which are played smoothly (legato).
- The same shape in Blueprint symbolsNorth arrowShows which way north is on the drawing.
More music symbols
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with arrows or circles.
Sources
- Music Notation and Terminology, Karl W. Gehrkens, 1914, A. S. Barnes Company (Project Gutenberg), Chapter V, §57, §59; Chapter XIII, §122
- Primer of Facts about Music, M. G. Evans, 1909, Theodore Presser Co. (Internet Archive, University of Toronto), Q. 114
- Stainer and Barrett's Dictionary of Musical Terms, John Stainer and W. A. Barrett, new and revised edition, 1898, Novello (Internet Archive, Cornell University Library), Forzando
- SMuFL: Articulation, Standard Music Font Layout, glyph table U+E4A0–U+E4BF, W3C Music Notation Community Group, U+E4A0, U+E4AC, U+E4A4
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 26, 2026. How we research
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