Dynamics (music)
In
music,
dynamics refers to the
volume or
loudness of the
sound or
note. The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics.
[[Image:Dynamics (music) cartoon - Punch - Project Gutenberg eText 17397.png|thumb|
Teacher. "And what does
ff mean?"
Pupil (after mature deliberation). "Fump-Fump."
Cartoon from {{Punch (magazine)|Punch magazine}} October 6, 1920]]The two basic dynamic indications in music are:
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p or
piano, meaning "softly" or "quietly" and
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f or
forte, meaning "loudly" or "strong".
More subtle degrees of loudness or softness are indicated by:
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mp, standing for
mezzo-piano, and meaning "medium-quiet" or "moderately-quiet" and
*
mf, standing for
mezzo-forte, and meaning "medium-loud" or "moderately-loud".
Beyond
f and
p, there is also
*
ff, standing for "fortissimo", and meaning "very loudly" and
*
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
sheet music quite frequently. No standard names for
fff and
ppp exist, but musicians have invented a variety of
neologisms for these designations, including
fortississimo/
pianississimo,
fortissimento/
pianissimento,
forte fortissimo/
piano pianissimo, and simply
triple forte/
triple piano.
A few pieces contain dynamic designations with more than three
fs or
ps. The
Norman Dello Joio Suite for Piano ends with a crescendo to a
ffff, and
Tchaikovsky indicated
pppppp and
ffff in passages of his
Pathétique symphony and in the
1812 Overture.
Shostakovich even went as far as to use
fffff in his
fourth symphony.
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. For some
music notation programs, there might be default
MIDI key velocity values associated with these indications, but the better programs allow users to change these as needed.
Sudden changes
Sforzando (or
forzando), indicates a strong, sudden accent and is abbreviated as
sf,
sfz or
fz. The notation
fp (or
sfp) indicates a
sforzando followed immediately by
piano. One particularly noteworthy use of this dynamic is in the second movement of
Joseph Haydn's
Surprise Symphony.
Rinforzando (literally "reinforcing") indicates that several notes, or a short phrase, are to be emphasized.
Gradual changes
In addition, there are words used to indicate gradual changes in volume. The two most common are
crescendo, sometimes abbreviated to
cresc, meaning "get gradually louder"; and
decrescendo or
diminuendo, sometimes abbreviated to
decresc and
dim respectively, meaning "get gradually softer". Signs called "hairpins" are also used to stand for these words. These are made up of two lines which connect at one end and get gradually further apart. If the lines are joined at the left, then the indication is to get louder; if they join at the right, the indication is to get softer. The following notation indicates music starting moderately loud, then becoming gradually louder and then gradually quieter:
 |
Music_hairpins.png |
Hairpins are usually written below the
staff, but are sometimes found above, especially in music for
singers. They tend to be used for dynamic changes over a relatively short period of time, while
cresc and
dim are generally used for dynamic changes over a longer range. For long stretches, dashes are used in some scores instead of repeating cresc. or dim.
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al niente: to nothing
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calando: becoming softer
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crescendo: becoming louder
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decrescendo or
diminuendo: becoming softer
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perdendo or
perdendosi: losing volume, fading into nothing, dying away
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morendo: dying away
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marcato: stressed, pronounced
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sotto voce: opposite of marcato, in an undertone
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in rilievo: indicates that a particular instrument is to play slightly louder than the others so as to stand out (be "in relief") over the ensemble
The
Renaissance composer Giovanni Gabrieli was one of the first to indicate dynamics in
music notation, but dynamics were used sparingly by composers until the late
18th century. Bach used the terms
piano,
più piano, and
pianissimo (written out as words), and in some cases it may be that
ppp was considered to mean
pianissimo in this period.
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Musical terminology*
Accent (music)
