A. What are dynamics?
• In music, dynamics refers to the volume or loudness of the sound or note, in particular to the range from soft (quiet) to loud.
• The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics.
• The two basic dynamic indications in music are:
o p or piano, meaning "softly" or "quietly"
o p or piano, meaning "softly" or "quietly"
o f or forte, meaning "loudly" or "strong".
• More subtle degrees of loudness or softness are indicated by:
o mp, standing for mezzo-piano, and meaning "half-quiet"
o mf, standing for mezzo-forte, and meaning "half loud”
• Beyond f and p, there is also:
o ff, standing for "fortissimo", and meaning "very loudly"
o pp, standing for "pianissimo", and meaning "very quietly"
• To indicate even more extreme degrees of intensity, more ps or fs are added as required. fff and ppp are found in music with surprising frequency. Though these dynamic markings are simply more extreme degrees of "fortissimo" and "pianissimo," we refer to them using neologisms "fortississimo" and "pianississimo." More than three fs or ps is unusual but seen on occasion. For instance, Tchaikovsky indicated pppppp and ffff in passages of his Pathétique symphony.
• It should be noted that dynamic indications are relative, not absolute. mp does not indicate an exact level of volume, it merely indicates that music in a passage so marked should be a little louder than p and a little quieter than mf.
- This song is in the key of D Major. This key signature has two sharps:
- F# and C#.
- The time signature is 4/4.
- The challenge in this song is to follow the dynamics. In the first two measures, you should play forte, or loudly. In the second pair of measures, you should play piano, or softly.
- Learning to recognize dynamics with your ears and with your eyes (as you look at your music) is vital to becoming a sensitive musician.
