Posts Tagged ‘dynamic symbols’

Should I Sing Loudly or Softly? – Dynamics Markings In Music

In your music you will often see various markings and abbreviations. Some of these markings are “dynamics” markings and are used by the composer or arranger to indicate the relative loudness or softness desired in the music. See the table below for the more common abbreviations and their meanings.

Abbreviation Meaning Term
p Soft volume piano
pp Very soft volume pianissimo
ppp Very, very soft volume pianississimo
mp Moderately soft volume mezzo-piano
mf Moderately loud volume mezzo-forte
f Loud volume forte
ff Very loud volume Fortissimo
fff Very, very loud volume fortississimo
< or cresc. Gradually increase volume Crescendo
> or decr. or decresc. Gradually decrease volume decrescendo
dim. Gradually decrease volume diminuendo

Note that these are relative terms. The director will guide you in setting the correct volume level, but your knowing what these abbreviations mean will be helpful to you and the choir.

Dynamic markings are part of larger set of markings called “expression markings” that are used to indicate how music should be performed. I will address other expression markings in another post.

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