7

Tempo, Dynamics, and

Navigation

In This Chapter

◆Determining how fast to play

◆Changing tempo

◆Determining how loud to play

◆Changing dynamics and accenting notes

◆Repeating parts of a song

You might not have noticed, but the first six chapters of this book taught you
how to read and write music. That’s right—all those bits about staves, clefs,
notes, and rests comprise what we call the standard music notation, which is the
common language of all musicians.

Think of it this way: The staff, clef, and key signature determine where a note
is in terms of pitch. The time signature and note value determine where a note
is in terms of time, or rhythm. By placing a note in this two-dimensional space,
you tell a musician everything he or she needs to know to play that note—and
all the notes that follow.

The only thing you haven’t learned about music notation is how to signify the
speed (tempo) and loudness (dynamics) of a piece of music. That’s what we’ll
cover in this chapter, along with some simple navigational aids to help you get
from one point to another within a song.

Taking the Pulse

In Chapter 6 you learned how to figure out how many beats there are in a meas-
ure. The question remains, however, how fast those beats should be played.

The speed of a piece of music—how fast the beat goes by—is called the tempo.
A faster tempo means a faster beat; a slower tempo makes for a slower song.

Chapter