Understanding Musical Dynamics: Gradual Changes and Notation, Assignments of Dynamics

Download Understanding Musical Dynamics: Gradual Changes and Notation and more Assignments Dynamics in PDF only on Docsity! Exploring Dynamics (again!) What are dynamics and how do they help us understand music? Warm-Up Activity Sing “Happy Birthday” three times (make up who you want to sing to, or just say ‘dear Someone’) 1) The first time, sing the song all the way through at the same medium volume (we’ll call this mezzo-forte or mf) 2) The second time, start by singing very quietly (pianissimo) and gradually get louder, so by the end you are singing very loud (fortissimo) 3) The third time, trade off - start by singing fortissimo, and gradually get quieter, so by the end you are singing pianissimo. Crescendo To crescendo in music means to get louder. In music, it is usually either marked with an abbreviation like this: Or it is marked with a ‘hairpin’ marking that looks like this: Decrescendo To decrescendo in music means to get softer. In music, it is usually either marked with an abbreviation like this: Or it is marked with a ‘hairpin’ marking that looks like this: Other Dynamic Changes Crescendo and Decrescendo are both gradual changes in volume. Here are a few other dynamic notation changes, some of which happen much more suddenly: sub. p - the symbol for subito piano, or suddenly quiet. sfz - the symbol for sforzando, which means suddenly and forcefully loud or accented fp - the symbol for forte piano, where music starts forte and immediately drops to piano - the symbol for diminuendo, which is similar to a decrescendo.