Lesson 4:  Dynamics

Dynamics

Think back a minute to the discussion that we had on pitch. Now imagine that you are playing with a set of child’s blocks. Think about placing each of these blocks an equal distance apart, placing them down at exactly the same speed, and putting them in exactly the same position. Each block represents a particular pitch. Now think about what it would be like if each note of music was like these blocks—played in exactly the same way each time. While the pitch might differ between notes, they would be evenly played and spaced, with no variation in loudness, rhythm, or timing. This would produce some monotonous music, even if the pitch differed from note to note.

Dynamics in music refers to the loudness or softness of a note, as well as the quality of the note as played. Some of the dynamics in music happen naturally. Imagine trying to play those notes for exactly the same length, in exactly the same quality, at exactly the same loudness or softness. It would be almost impossible to maintain this for any length of time for most people. We naturally bring in dynamics as we play because we naturally vary these aspects.

Over the years, musicians have developed various terms to denote the sound level that a note is to be played at. If you look at sheet music for a piece, particularly if the piece is to be performed by an orchestra or other formal group, you will often find notations indicating the loudness or softness that an instrument should be using. Some of these notations include:

• Fortissimo (ff): played very loudly
• Forte (f): played loudly
• Mezzo forte (mf): played moderately loud
• Mezzo piano (mp): played moderately soft
• Piano (p): played softly
• Pianissimo (pp): played very softly

These notes help musicians to identify the sound level that they are meant to be playing at. Yet, they are still approximations since each person interprets these terms in a slightly different manner. The defining of loudness in a piece of music can not only help set the mood of the music, but it also helps instruments work together to create music. Imagine if all of the instruments were allowed to play as loudly as they wanted in an orchestra. The result might be that some instruments would be drowned out while others would overpower the music. In addition, the mood of the music would be very different. Imagine a very sad piece of music played as loudly as possible. This might create music that sounds angrier than it does sad, producing different emotions in the listener.

The level of sound can happen gradually or suddenly within a piece of music. Subito forzando (usually written as sforzando) is a sudden change in the level of sound. The notation of this change may be placed with the notations that we discussed earlier. For example, you may see sp on the sheet music, indicated a sudden change where the notes should be played softly. In addition to sudden changes, we also find gradual changes in the volume of sounds. These changes are referred to with special terms as well. Crescendo (or cres.) refers to music that gradually increases in volume or gets louder. Decrescendo or diminuendo (decres. or dim.) refers to music that gradually decreases in volume or gets softer.

In addition to the level of sound that music is played at in a piece, another element of dynamics is the quality of the tone. Timbre (which is pronounced tam-ber) is the tone quality of a sound, and it is what helps to distinguish one musical instrument from another. It is also sometimes referred to as color or tone quality. You are already aware of timbre whether you realize it or not. For example, you are probably able to distinguish different musical instruments from others. A piano sounds different from a flute or a guitar, for example, even when they are all playing the same note. In addition, each individual instrument has its own timber, and those with a good ear for a particular instrument may be able to actually tell one cello apart from another cello or one flute apart from another flute.

Human voices also differ from one another. You’ve probably noticed this as well in listening to singers. We can separate some of the timber differences of humans into four different categories:

• Soprano: a high female voice
• Alto: a low female voice
• Tenor: a high male voice
• Bass: a low male voice

If you think about the human voices that you’ve heard, you most likely are able to distinguish between human voices just as some people are able to distinguish between instruments.