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Music vocabulary · Notation and Reading Music

Dynamics

Meaning in music, with examples

/daɪˈnæmɪks/nounCore term

In music, dynamics means: How loud or soft music is played and how the volume changes, shown with Italian markings such as p (piano, soft) and f (forte, loud).

In Turkish: nüanslar, gürlük, dinamikler

How it is used

Teachers and conductors ask players to 'watch the dynamics' or 'bring out the dynamics'. Common markings: pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, and the hairpins crescendo (getting louder) and diminuendo or decrescendo (getting softer).

Example sentences

  1. The notes are right, but there are no dynamics yet; everything is mezzo-forte.

  2. Watch the dynamics in bar 40: it drops to pianissimo and then builds with a crescendo.

Common collocations

  • watch the dynamics
  • dynamic marking
  • dynamic range
  • follow the dynamics
  • sheet musicMusic written or printed in notation on paper or a screen, so that musicians can read and play it.
  • conductorThe person who leads an orchestra or choir, setting the tempo, showing entries and shaping the performance with hand movements or a baton.
  • scoreWritten music that shows all the parts of a piece together, one above the other. It also means the original music written for a film, series or game.
  • tempoThe speed of a piece of music, usually measured in beats per minute (BPM) or shown with Italian words such as allegro (fast) or adagio (slow).
  • masteringThe final stage of audio production, in which finished mixes are polished, made consistent in loudness and tone, and prepared for streaming, CD or vinyl.

More terms: Notation and Reading Music

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