Twenty-Five

Day 25: Dynamics

Dynamics are symbols that indicate how loud or soft a note should be played. The specific term for loud is the Italian word forte and the symbol is this:

The forte sign

The term for soft (or quiet) is piano and the symbol is this:

The piano sign

Dynamic markings are written just below the note. Notice the forte and piano signs in Audio Example 25.2 (in the free companion course).

In addition to these two, we have symbols that indicate more specific nuances of loudness or softness. As you can see in the table here, adding more piano signs indicates softer dynamics while adding more forte signs indicates louder dynamics.

In between these two poles of loud and soft, we have two moderate dynamics: mezzo piano meaning moderately soft, and mezzo forte meaning moderately loud.

Table of dynamic nuances

For an example of mezzo piano, look at audio example 25.3 in the companion course.

Even more extreme dynamics are sometimes called for and these are written simply by adding more for more softness and more for more loudness. Keep in mind that these dynamics are not specific measurements of loudness and softness. A great deal depends on context such as instrumentation and range.

Note: Dynamics are not just about volume. When an instrument is played loudly or softly, its sound quality changes. Think about it this way: if we record a flute playing forte and then play that recording back at a low volume, the music doesn’t become soft. The sound quality of the instrument is still of a forte; it’s just played back at a lower volume.

Gradual Changes

Apart from piano and forte, we also have symbols to instruct the performer that the music becomes louder or softer little by little. The musical term for gradually getting louder is the Italian word crescendo .

It is often shortened simply as cresc. (such as in example 25.4) or replaced entirely by this symbol known as a hairpin:

The crescendo hairpin

The term for gradually getting softer is the Italian word diminuendo , often simply shortened to dim. The word dim. can also be replaced by the hairpin going in the opposite direction:

The diminuendo hairpin

Another word for diminuendo is decrescendo and it’s abbreviated as decresc .

The word crescendo is sometimes stretched out over several measures so that its execution is prolonged. Notice how the dashed line connects the various parts of the word.

The words poco (Italian for a little ) and molto (Italian for a lot ) can be added to crescendos and diminuendos to specify better the degree of change. In the following example we have poco cresc meaning getting a little louder and then cresc molto meaning getting a lot louder.

For examples of gradual dynamic changes, look at audio examples 25.4 through 25.10 in our companion course.

Sudden Changes

Dynamic changes are not always gradual. Composers often call for sudden and abrupt changes as well. One of the simplest ways of notating an abrupt dynamic change is to add the word subito (shortened simply as sub. ) to the standard dynamic symbols. Subito is Italian for sudden. In this example we have a subito piano meaning suddenly soft.

When a note or a group of notes are to be played loudly followed immediately by softer notes, we have the indication forte piano, meaning loud and then immediately soft .

The symbol is a simple: fp .

To emphasize a specific note (or notes), we have the marking sforzando , shortened simply as sfz . Sforzando is the Italian word for forcing or with force. In music it suggests a sudden emphasis.

The terms sforzato and forzato (or forzando ) are common alternatives to the word sforzando and its abbreviation. They all indicate the same effect.

For examples of sudden dynamic changes, check out audio examples 25.11 to 25.13 in our companion course.