Question 1. How loud should I play?
The most fundamental question about volume I must ask myself as a performer is how
loud I should play. Is the composer wanting me to play loudly or quietly? In sheet music,
this information is given to me as a letter(s) or word(s) underneath the stave (called a “dy-
namic marking”). So, the following scale.......
.....should be played quietly as p is short for piano (Italian word pronounced pee-ar-no)
which means quiet.
On the other hand, the following scale....
....should be played loudly as f is short for forté (Italian word pronounced for-tay) which
means loud.
The dynamic marking can be changed as the piece progresses. So, in this extract....
....the first bar should be played loud whilst the second bar should be played quiet.
The table over the page shows a list of the most common letters/words used to express
volume/dynamics....