Piano for Beginners 6th ED - 2016 UK

A dynamic sound

Take a look at musical dynamics doing what they do best

Different types of dynamics There are plenty more dynamic directions to get your head around

We have covered the most

basic and widely used dynamic

instructions but there are plenty

of other ones that you’ll come

across. Some of these are real

tongue-twisters. If you see

pppppp on the stave, this means

pianissississississimo, or ‘as softly as

possible’. There are also combined

markings such as pianoforte

(pf) which means ‘soft and then

immediately loud’, or mezzoforte

(mfp) meaning ‘start moderately

loudly then instantly drop to a

softer volume’. There are also

symbols that will affect dynamics,

such as accents, and sometimes

the dynamic direction will just be

written out in plain English.

Top tip

Where on

the stave?

On musical scores for

instrumental parts, you will see

all of the Italian dynamics

symbols placed below the

staves. However if you look at

the score for a vocal part you’ll

notice that the dynamics

are noted above

the stave.

Diminuendo

The diminuendo (>) instructs the musician to

play the notes gradually quieter until another

instruction is given. Along with a crescendo, these

symbols are sometimes referred to as ‘hairpins’

Fortissimo

This piece needs to be played very loudly to start, thanks

to the fortissimo (ff) direction. However, this is followed by

a diminuendo transition, so it should get quieter

Crescendo

These diverging lines denote a crescendo, so the piece

needs to get louder until the lines stop. You may also

see a crescendo direction written as ‘cresc.’

Sforzando

After the crescendo builds the

volume, it ends with a sudden

burst of loudness as instructed

by this sforzando mark

Symbol Name Description

< Crescendo Getting louder

> Diminuendo Getting quieter

ppp Pianississimo Extremely quiet

pp Pianissimo Very quiet

p Piano Quiet

f Forte Loud

ff Fortissimo Very loud

fff Fortississimo Extremely loud

mf Mezzo forte Medium loud

mp Mezzo piano Medium quiet

fz Forzando Begin note loudly with strong

accent

sfz Sforzando Loud and accented