So you may be thinking to yourself, “I know how to read and play notes and rhythms, but how do I make it sound more interesting?” That’s where dynamics, articulations and tempo come in. Dynamics tell you how soft or loud the music should be played; articulations tell you how short, long or strong a note should be played, and tempo tells you how slow or fast to play the music. Most sheet music will have more than just the notes and rhythms; it will have symbols and terms for dynamics, articulations and tempo as well. It is like learning a whole new language. We’ve outlined the basics to help get you started.
Dynamics
In music, dynamics indicate the varying levels of volume of sound that are heard throughout a piece. In sheet music, musical symbols tell the performer how soft or loud a passage is to be played. The symbols below are listed in order from softest to loudest. Dynamic symbols will most often be located beneath the staff, meaning that the music above is to be played at the indicated dynamic.
Pianissimo |
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Piano |
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Mezzo-Piano |
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Mezzo-Forte |
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Forte |
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Fortissimo |
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Crescendo |
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Decrescendo/Diminuendo |
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Articulations
Articulation markings help add character to a piece of music. They indicate the length or emphasis a note should have. Here are the most common ones.
Staccato |
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Accent |
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Tenuto |
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Fermata |
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Tempo
How do you know how slow or fast a piece of music should be? That is what the tempo marking tells you! Tempo is the rate of speed at which a musical passage is to be played, which is defined by one of several terms, like those listed below. For this beginner’s manual, we are simply providing the most common tempo terms, which come from Italian. However, there are a plethora of other musical terms from different languages. As you advance in your musical study, you may come across terms in French, German and even English. It is always a good idea to have a pocket music dictionary on hand to reference any unfamiliar terms that you find.
Tempo may also be measured in beats per minute (BPM). In order to make sure you are practicing and playing the piece at the correct tempo, it is important to have a metronome, a device which marks time by giving a regular tick at the selected BPM. The following tempo terms have a rough BPM approximation.
Adagio – slowly (66-76 BPM)
Andante – at a walking pace (76-108 BPM)
Moderato – moderately (108-120 BPM)
Allegro – fast, quickly (120-160 BPM)
Presto – extremely fast (160-200 BPM)
For a more complete list of the Italian terms for tempo, see here.
Check out the other articles in the “Learn to Read Sheet Music” Series:
Learn to Read Sheet Music: Notes
Learn to Read Sheet Music: Rhythms
Learn to Read Sheet Music: List of Basic Musical Symbols
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