Posts Tagged ‘music dynamics’
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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