Understanding Dynamics in Music

Imagine when you are singing in a choir and the conductor throws this word ‘dynamics’ a lot? Well! That is because Dynamics in Music is very important to bring out the intended emotion of the musical piece. It is a fairly simple concept. So, Dynamics in Music is explained for beginners in a very simple way in this blog.

I would recommend that a musician, be it an amateur or a professional, must absolutely have an idea about the importance of dynamics in music. Let us get to know what Dynamics in Music Notes is all about!

What is Dynamics in Music?

Dynamics in Music refers to how loud or soft a musical piece is.

Simple, is it not?

Here is where it gets a bit tricky. Depending on the musical context, a performer must interpret dynamic markings or the musical dynamic’s meanings.. For example, a particular marking may indicate a different volume between pieces or even within a single piece. Beyond just volume, dynamics are also executed by varying timbre and rubato. But for now, let us remember that the shift in volume between notes or phrases in a composition is known as its dynamics.

Okay, but Why? 

Behold! There are different kinds of dynamic markings in music. Just before looking at these kinds, let us discuss why we need dynamic markings in music. 

One of the expressive components of music is dynamics. When used skillfully, dynamics lets musicians convey a specific emotional state or feeling as well as maintaining variation and most importantly interest in a musical performance. If this piece of music were to be played or sung in a bland manner, it would sound boring to the listeners. Therefore, This is why it is very necessary to have variations in the volume of the piece of the music. 

Little into the history!

Nowadays, it is very rare to find a piece of music without any kind of dynamic marking. It wasn’t always the case, though. Besides, dynamics were not often written into music until the late 1700s, though performers would still add their own.

Did you know?

Dynamics in music was first introduced by renaissance composer Giovanni Gabrieli.

Later, composers like Bach used the terms piano, più piano, and pianissimo (it’s possible that during this time, ppp was interpreted as pianissimo in certain instances).

When a larger variety of instruments were developed, more kinds of dynamic markings came to light. As a result, composers started using more and more words to express the relative volumes at which they wanted their pieces to be performed. Dynamic markings are written as acronyms for Italian terms because musicians often utilize Italian words and phrases.

Dynamics in Baroque and Romantic Era

Anyway, dynamics used in early Baroque music was plainly expressed and it also involved contrasting a small number of elements with a larger number of elements of musical concepts.

Terraced dynamics in music were often used during the Baroque era. This had an abrupt transition from full to soft without any use of crescendo or decrescendo. To produce an echo effect in music, the terraced dynamic was widely used.

Composers significantly increased the vocabulary they used to describe dynamic shifts in their scores during the Romantic era. Beethoven also used ppp and fff, while Brahms used a variety of terms to describe the dynamics he desired. Haydn and Mozart had specified six levels (pp to ff).

Puzzled much?

Dynamics in Music: Explained for Beginners.

Basically, remember that dynamics in Music is the term used to describe a musical piece’s loudness or softness.

However, we describe the piece’s volume using various Italian terms and symbols rather than English terms like loud and soft.

We divide the vocabulary related to dynamics in music into two categories:

Static Dynamics

Changing Dynamics

Static Dynamics

The musical instructions known as static dynamics instruct us to play the music at a constant volume.

Put another way, play every note at the same volume as the previous one rather than getting louder or quieter.

Piano ( p)

This is pronounced as “pi-ah-no.” The term “piano” in music refers to quietly or softly. When reading music, the letter p usually indicates to the musician that this section of the composition should be performed quietly.

Pianissimo (pp)

Pronounced as “pi-ah-ni-si-mo”.  In music, the term “pianissimo” denotes very softly or quietly. The musician is typically advised to perform this portion of the music very softly when they see the letter pp.

Mezzo Piano (mp)

Pronounced as “Met-so-pi-ah-no”.  The term “mezzo piano” in music refers to Moderately Soft. The letter mp usually indicates to the musician that this section of the composition should be performed Moderately Soft.

Mezzo Forte (mf)

Pronounced as “Met-so-for-te”.  The term “mezzo piano” in music refers to Moderately Loud. The letter mf usually indicates that the section of the music is performed Moderately Loud.

Forte (f)

Forte means Loud. when a piece of music is marked forte it would mean that the performer is required to sing or play loudly.

Fortissimo (ff)

This term (pronounced “for-TISS-im-oh”) describes a gradual change in volume, either from loud to soft or from soft to loud. The Italian words “forte” means “loud” and “issimo” means “very.” The two words can be combined to form fortissimo, which means “very loud.” This phrase is used to indicate a loud section of music or singing.

Pianississimo and Fortississimo

We still have double “issimo” combinations with piano or forte, called pianississimo (pronounced “PEE-an-iss-SISS-im-oh”) and fortisssimo (pronounced “FOR-tiss-SISS-im-oh”). But one of the “issimo” is abbreviated as “iss.”So, “very very quiet” is denoted by pianississimo and “very very loud” by fortississimo. For pianississimo, the symbol is “ppp,” and for fortississimo, it is “fff.”

Although they are not frequently used, these dynamics (ppp and fff) can be found in orchestral works.

Fun Fact

In the 1800s, Piano was called as Piano Forte in Western Music Art.

Joseph Haydn is one of the handful composers who used dynamic markings in that era(Renaissance). This beautiful piece is written in Andante. Music Dynamics meaning can be interpreted in many ways.

Note that the piece starts in piano (soft) proceeds with a very short crescendo and diminuendo and continues to mezzo piano(moderately soft) and stays at piano with changing dynamics here and there. You can also notice how the composer raises the curiosity by making Mezzo Forte in few phrases and pulling it back to piano at the end. See the elements of interest created by Haydn? That’s the importance of Dynamics in Music.

Changing Dynamics

The crescendo and decrescendo indicate these changes.

Generally, a composer only needs to include a dynamic name (mezzo piano) or abbreviation (mp) in the score to alter the piece’s dynamics in music notes at any point. Occasionally, though, the composer will also want to specify the performer’s progression to that dynamic. An interesting piece of music is one where the volume is not always constant.

In addition, piece’s dynamic levels, or loudness or volume, can change gradually or rapidly over time. Changing dynamics uses show gradual changes in volume in a piece of music. 

The terms crescendo, decrescendo, and diminuendo are most frequently used to describe “changed dynamics” or “change in dynamics.”

• crescendo (abbreviated cresc.) meaning  “increasing” (literally “growing”)
• decrescendo (abbreviated to decresc.) translates to  “decreasing“.
• diminuendo (abbreviated dim.) refers to “diminishing”.

Crescendo 

A crescendo means gradually getting louder. That is, Crescendo is one of the Dynamics in Music which brings gradual increase in a piece of music’s dynamic level over a set amount of time. Put more simply, it’s the sound of music intensifying. 

A crescendo, for instance, would occur when a section transitions from a pianissimo to a fortissimo dynamics in music pieces . 

Decrescendo

 A decrescendo refers to gradually getting softer. It would be the gradual decrease of the dynamic level in a piece of music. Decrescendo and Diminuendo are the basically the same when it comes to dynamics in music.

A decrescendo would appear when a section is written to flow from Forte to Piano, for example.

So, I am adding an interesting yet very simple exercise to understand Crescendo and decrescendo. You would understand the beauty and the importance of dynamics in music while trying out this exercise. It is a one note hum starting with piano(softly)- a Crescendo(<)- Forte(f)- a Diminuendo(>) and finishing with a Piano(p)

Final Remarks!

As a musician I can assure you that dynamics bring out a very interesting element of any music composition. Without dynamics there’s a good chance it sounds like a good song but with no lyrics. Listeners would not be able to enjoy music without dynamics.