From the course: Music Theory for Songwriters: Rhythm
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Dynamics
From the course: Music Theory for Songwriters: Rhythm
Dynamics
- So much about rhythm isn't in the notes, rests, and time signatures, but rather in the feel. And, so much of the feel is determined by the dynamics of a musical performance. Dynamics refers to the volume or loudness, how loud or how soft a note or musical passage is played. A loud quarter note is clearly different than a soft quarter note. Let's hear that on the drum. (loud drum beat) (soft drum beat) Both of those examples were quarter notes, but they had a very different feel. Emotion is tied to the dynamics of how music is played, and the Italian language has beautiful words to express terms for dynamics, like pianissimo, forte, and crescendo. In Italian, piano means soft, and forte means loud. Mezzo means moderately, and issimo means very. Combining these terms, we get the whole spectrum of dynamics. For example, mezzo piano, abbreviated mp, means moderately soft, or half soft. Fortissimo, or double forte, abbreviated with two fs, means very loud. Triple forte, or fortississimo,…
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