Musical terms that determine the degree of loudness of the performance of music are called dynamic shades (from the Greek word dynamicos - power, that is, the strength of the sound). Of course, you have seen such icons in the notes: pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, dim, cresc. These are all abbreviations for the names of dynamic shades. See how they are written in full, pronounced and translated: pp - pianissimo "pianissimo" - very quiet; p - piano "piano" - quiet; mp - mezzo piano "mezzo piano" - moderately quiet, slightly louder than the piano; mf - mezzo forte “mezzo forte” - moderately loud, louder than mezzo piano; f - forte ("forte" - loud; ff - fortissimo "fortissimo" - very loud.
Sometimes, much less often, in the notes you can find such designations: ppp (piano-pianissimo), pprr. Or fff, (forte-fortissimo), ffff. They mean very, very quiet, barely audible, very, very loud. The sf sign - sforzando (sforzando) indicates the emphasis of a note or chord. Very often found in notes and such words: dim, diminuendo (diminuendo) or an icon indicating a gradual weakening of the sound. Cresc. (crescendo), or icon - indicate, on the contrary, that you need to gradually increase the sound. Before cresc. sometimes poco and poco (peace and quiet) is put - little by little, little by little, little by little. Of course, these words are found in other combinations as well. After all, gradually you can not only amplify the sound, but also weaken it, speed up or slow down the movement. Instead of diminuendo, they sometimes write morendo (morendo) - freezing. This definition means not only calming down, but also slowing down the pace. Approximately the same meaning has the word smorzando (smortsando) - muffling, fading, weakening the sonority and slowing down the tempo. You have probably heard the play "November" from the cycle "Seasons" by Tchaikovsky more than once. It has the subtitle "On the top three." It begins not very loudly (mf), a simple melody similar to a Russian folk song. It grows, expands, and now it sounds powerful, loud (f). The next musical episode, more lively and graceful, imitates the sound of traffic bells. And then, against the background of the incessant ringing of bells, the melody of the song reappears - now quiet (p), now approaching and again disappearing in the distance, gradually fading away.
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Designations
Loudness (relative)
There are two basic definitions of loudness in music:
Moderate loudness levels are indicated as follows:
Except signs f and p , There are also
Additional letters are used to indicate even more extreme levels of loudness and silence. f and p ... So, quite often in musical literature there are designations fff and ppp ... They have no standard names, they usually say “forte-fortissimo” and “piano-pianissimo” or “three forte” and “three pianos”.
In rare cases, with the help of additional f and p even more extreme degrees of sound strength are indicated. Thus, P. I. Tchaikovsky in his Sixth Symphony used pppppp and ffff , and D. D. Shostakovich in the Fourth Symphony - fffff .
Dynamics designations are relative, not absolute. For example, mp indicates not the exact volume level, but that this passage should be played somewhat louder than p , and somewhat quieter than mf ... Some computer sound recording programs have standard key velocity values that correspond to a particular volume designation, but these values are usually configurable.
Gradual changes
The terms are used to indicate a gradual change in volume crèchendo(Italian crescendo), which denotes a gradual increase in sound, and diminuendo(Italian diminuendo), or decreechendo(decrescendo) - gradual weakening. In notes, they are abbreviated as cresc. and dim.(or decresc.). For the same purposes, special signs - "forks" are used. They are pairs of lines connected on one side and diverging on the other. If the lines diverge from left to right (<), это означает усиление звука, если сходятся (>) - weakening. The next piece of musical notation indicates a moderately loud beginning, then an increase in the sound and then its weakening:
Forks are usually written under the stave, but sometimes over it, especially in vocal music. They usually denote short-term changes in volume, and the signs cresc. and dim.- changes over a longer time interval.
Designations cresc. and dim. may be accompanied by additional instructions poco(for a while - a little), poco a poco(peace and quiet - little by little), subito or sub.(sub'bito - suddenly), etc.
Sforzando designation
Drastic changes
Sforzando(Italian sforzando) or sforzato(sforzato) denotes a sudden sharp accent and is indicated by sf or sfz ... The sudden amplification of several sounds or a short phrase is called rinforzando(Italian rinforzando) and is denoted rinf. , rf or rfz .
Designation fp means "loudly, then immediately quietly"; sfp indicates a sforzando followed by a piano.
Musical terms related to dynamics
- al niente- literally "to nothing", to silence
- calando- "going down"; slowing down and lowering the volume.
- crescendo- enhancing
- decrescendo or diminuendo- lowering the volume
- perdendo or perdendosi- losing strength, drooping
- morendo- freezing (calming down and slowing down the pace)
- marcato- emphasizing every note
- più- more
- poco- Little
- poco a poco- little by little, little by little
- sotto voce- in an undertone
- subito- suddenly
In the previous article, we examined the concept of tempo as a means of expressiveness in music. You also learned about the designation options for tempo. In addition to the tempo, the loudness of the sound of a piece of music is of great importance. Loudness is a powerful expression in music. The tempo of the piece and its volume complement each other, creating a single picture.
Dynamic shades
The level of loudness of the sound of music is called dynamic tone. We immediately draw your attention to the fact that within the framework of one piece of music, various dynamic shades can be used. Below is a list of dynamic shades.
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| Changing the volume | |||||||||||||||||||||
Let's consider examples of the interaction of loudness and tempo. The march will most likely sound loud, clear, solemn. The romance will not sound very loud, at a slow or medium pace. With a high degree of probability, in the romance we will find a gradual acceleration of the tempo and increasing volume. Less often, depending on the content, there may be a gradual slowdown in tempo and lower volume.
Outcome
In order to perform music, you need to know the designation of dynamic shades. You have seen what signs and words are used for this in the sheet music.
In this article, you will get acquainted with the basic concepts of dynamics, learn the most popular notation and methods of dynamic work, as well as mistakes and problems that beginner musicians face.
What is dynamics in general?
If we turn to the etymology of the word dynamics, then we learn that from the Greek. δύναμις - strength, power.
What kind of power are we talking about when applied to music?
Of course, about the power of sound, one of the 4 parameters of musical sound in general. (All 4 sound parameters are considered)
The strength of the sound, in turn, affects the volume of the sound, since the harder we pull the string, or hit the piano key, the stronger the vibration amplitude of the sounding body and the greater its volume.
However, not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance. And the volume of the sound itself means little to the performer.
It is important to be able to work with loudness and most importantly, to have a wide palette of dynamic tones that you can reproduce on your instrument.
By dynamic shades, musicians most often mean the relative system of notation for loudness, which can be found in musical notation.
The most simple circuit as follows.
p (piano - piano) - quiet
f (forte - forte) - loud
The rest of the designations are derived from them.
pp - pianissimo - very quiet
mp - mezzo piano - not very quiet
mf mezzo forte not very loud
ff - very loud
As you can see, the scale is quite relative and sometimes it is almost impossible to distinguish mp from mf.
That is why these designations are called relative loudness designations.
It is clear that the forte on the guitar and the forte on the piano are completely different volumes.
Comparative table of loudness in decibels without reference to the instrument.
| fff | Forte fortissimo is the loudest | 100 background | 88 sleep |
| ff | Fortissimo is very loud | 90 background | 38 sleep |
| f | Forte - loud | 80 background | 17.1 sleep |
| p | Piano - quiet | 50 background | 2.2 sleep |
| pp | Pianissimo - very quiet | 40 background | 0.98 sleep |
| ppp | Piano-pianissimo is the quietest | 30 background | 0.36 sleep |
The first step in mastering the dynamics of your instrument is to learn how to play forte and piano, without smooth transitions.
Then you can try playing pp first, then ff right away. Consult a professional teacher for effective dynamics mastering exercises.
One of the most common mistakes aspiring musicians make is not working on dynamics. Everything they play sounds not very quiet and not very loud. This approach impoverishes music and its expressiveness and, of course, should be eradicated at the very first stages of training.
You need to learn to play in all possible dynamic ranges.
The next important element of dynamics in music is gradation, that is, the transition from one level of dynamics to another.
In fact, any musical phrase is based on the use of a smooth change in dynamics, and very rarely all notes are played at the same volume.
To indicate obvious changes in dynamics, the notation is used
cresc. and dim. or strengthening and weakening
Also, notes use forks to indicate an increase or decrease in volume:
Sudden changes in volume
sf or sfz - suddenly loud or harsh accent
The designation is also found fp (forte piano) it means "loudly, then immediately quietly";
sfp (sforzando piano) indicates a sforzando followed by a piano.
Also in the notation there are accents, which are placed above a separate note, which indicates their dynamic selection in comparison with the surrounding sounds. The strength of the accent can range from a subtle change to a very sharp attack. The picture shows accent 3 and 4.
Deaccent or ghost notes are very common in jazz. These are notes that are written in parentheses and are practically not played or played at minimal dynamics.
Sounds like these keep pulsation alive and are an important feature of the style.
It is important to note that dynamics is responsible for the emotionality of music, and also significantly affects the phrasing, since agogy almost always relies on the correct work with dynamics.
Observe your speech and the speech of others and try to mentally record their dynamics. You will hear that the speech of any person changes dynamically depending on emotions. We pronounce the usual phrases mf, when we are excited we can speak loudly, with a crescendo to important words. When the dispute is in full swing, the participants may be on ff, and by the end of the dispute, subside.
A whisper is pp or even ppp, which is very often associated with secrets or secrets that we want to tell other people.
All it takes to master dynamics is to bring the dynamics of live speech into your game.
Listen to other musicians, paying attention to dynamics - after all, this is where most of the secrets of successful performance are hidden.
One of the popular tricks working with dynamics is an echo effect, in which a phrase is repeated more quietly or vice versa louder. Contemporary musicians apply this technique to snare drum beats or theme conduction.
This contrast of dynamics is also very characteristic of the music of the Baroque era.
In those days, gradient transitions were not as popular as they are today - so the main technique for working on dynamics is to match quiet parts to loud ones and vice versa.
Going deeper into the nature of sound dynamics, let's return to the beginning of the article.
2 simple sound gradations are quietly and loudly.
But if we take the extremes, then we can talk about complete silence (pause is also music) and maximum volume.
This is an area that requires careful study on the instrument. Try to find the most quiet sound that can be retrieved.
When does the transition from silence to sound appear? This process can be like meditation.
Or the most loud noise- can you make the loudest forte even louder?
Just as artists distinguish dozens of shades of colors, musicians learn to discern the subtlest nuances of dynamics.
At the beginning of the journey, you only hear loud and quiet. Then you start to catch the transitions and shades of forte, piano, accents, ghost notes.
Ideally, the sound flow will be perceived by you as endless waves of sound dynamics passing from the forte to the piano and vice versa.
As you can see, dynamics is a simple and at the same time the most difficult part of music to master. It is not difficult to understand the types of musical dynamics and their transitions, but it is much more difficult to learn to hear and perform these transitions.
Use the ideas outlined in this article, and also carefully read the instructions of the composers, because their task is to point out to you as accurately and unambiguously as possible all the dynamically changes that must be followed to create the most accurate interpretation.
For musicians performing rock, jazz and any other modern music, it is important to learn to hear dynamics, since it is not written out in the notes, but is invariably present in any composition, since music is impossible without dynamics!
Music is an art form that appeals to our sensory sphere with the help of sounds. The language of sounds has in its composition various elements, which in professional terminology are called "means of musical expression". One of these most important and most powerful elements in terms of impact is dynamics.
What is dynamics
This word is familiar to everyone from the physics course and is associated with the concepts of "mass", "force", "energy", "motion". In music, it defines the same thing, but in relation to sound. Dynamics in music is the power of sound, it can also be expressed in terms of "quieter - louder".
Playing at the same level of sonority cannot be expressive, it gets tired quickly. On the contrary, frequent changes in dynamics make music interesting, allowing a wide range of emotions to be conveyed.
If music is intended to express joy, triumph, exultation, happiness - the dynamics will be bright and sonorous. Light, soft, calm dynamics are used to convey such emotions as sadness, tenderness, trepidation, penetration.
Methods of naming dynamics
Dynamics in music is what determines the volume level. There are very few designations for this, there are much more real gradations in the sound. So dynamic symbols should be viewed only as a scheme, a direction of search, where each performer fully reveals his imagination.
The speaker level "loud" is indicated by the term "forte", "quiet" - "piano". This is common knowledge. “Quiet, but not too much” - “mezzo piano”; "Not too loud" - "mezzo forte".
If the dynamics in music requires going to the level of extremes, the nuances of "pianissimo" are used - very quietly; or "fortissimo" - very loud. In exceptional cases, the number of "forte" and "piano" icons can be up to five!
But even taking into account all the options, the number of symbols for expressing the loudness does not exceed 12. This is not much, considering that on a good piano you can extract up to 100 dynamic gradations!
Dynamic indications also include the terms "crescendo" (gradually increasing the volume) and the opposite term "diminuendo".
Musical dynamics includes a number of symbols that indicate the need to accentuate any sound or consonance:> ("accent"), sf or sfz (sharp accent - "sforzando"), rf or rfz ("rinforzando" - "amplifying") ...
From harpsichord to grand piano
The surviving examples of harpsichords and clavichords allow us to imagine what dynamics are in music The mechanics of the ancient predecessors of the pianoforte did not allow changing the volume level gradually. For a sharp change in dynamics, there were additional keyboards (manuals) that could add overtones to the sound by means of octave doublings.
A special leverage system and a foot keyboard on the organ made it possible to achieve a variety of timbres and amplification of volume, but all the same, the changes occurred suddenly. In relation to baroque music, there is even a special term "terrace-like dynamics", since the change in volume levels resembled the terraces of a terrace.
As for the amplitude of the dynamics, it was quite small. The sound of the harpsichord, pleasant, silvery and quiet up close, was almost inaudible at a distance of several meters. The clavichord sounded harsher, with a metallic tinge, but a little more sonorous.
This instrument was very beloved by J.S.Bach for its ability, albeit to a barely noticeable degree, but still change the level of dynamics depending on the force of touching the keys with your fingers. This made it possible to give the phrase a certain convexity.
The invention of the piano with its hammer system at the beginning of the 18th century revolutionized the possibilities of Dynamics in music performed on a modern grand piano, has a huge number of sound gradations and, most importantly, the availability of gradual transitions from one nuance to another.
The dynamics are large and detailed
Large dynamics are usually expressed in the symbols outlined in the table. There are few of them, they are clear and definite.
However, “inside” each of these nuances can be a mass of more subtle sound gradations. For them, no special designations have been invented, however, these levels exist in real sound and it is they that make us anxiously listen to the play of a talented performer.
Such small dynamics are called detailed. The tradition of using it originates (remember the capabilities of the clavichord).
Dynamics in music is one of the touchstones of the performing arts. It is the mastery of subtle nuances, its light, barely noticeable changes that distinguishes the game of a talented professional.
However, it is no less difficult to evenly distribute the amplification or attenuation of sonority when it is "stretched" over a large segment of the musical text.
Relativity of dynamics
In conclusion, it is worth noting that dynamics in music is a very relative concept, as, indeed, everything else in our life. Each musical style and even each composer has its own dynamic scale, as well as its own peculiarities in the application of nuances.
What sounds good in Prokofiev's music is absolutely inapplicable when performing Scarlatti's sonatas. And the nuance of piano in Chopin and Beethoven will sound completely different.
The same applies to the degree of emphasis, the duration of maintaining the same level of dynamics, the method of changing it, and so on.
To master this means of musical expression at a good professional level, it is necessary, first of all, to study the play of great masters, listen attentively, analyze, think and draw conclusions.