Chapter 7:Tempo, Dynamics, and Navigation 81
When you see a fermata, hold the note.
Getting Loud—and Getting Soft
You now know how to indicate how fast or how slow a song should be played.
How do you indicate how loud or how soft you should play it?
Dynamic Markings
A song’s dynamics indicate how loud or soft you should play. In the world of
music notation, there is a set range of volume levels, from very soft to very
loud, that you use to indicate the dynamic level of a piece of music. These
dynamic markings are shown in the following table:
Dynamic Markings
Marking Dynamic Means ...
ppp pianississimo Very, very soft
pp pianissimo Very soft
p piano Soft
mp mezzo piano Medium soft
mf mezzo forte Medium loud
f forte Loud
ff fortissimo Very loud
fff fortississimo Very, very loud
The dynamic marking, just like the tempo marking, typically appears at the
beginning of the song. If you don’t see a dynamic marking, that means the song
should be played at a medium volume.
Use dynamic markings to indicate how loud a song should be played.
Changing Dynamics
Dynamics can—and do—change throughout the course of a piece of music.