Lesso'
lS
ry
Dynamic Signs
DYNAMIC5lGN5indicatethe volume,or how soft or /oudthe musicshouldbe played.Mostmusicalterms
arewritten in ltaliansinceltaliancomposers
wereamongthe firstto write suchinstructions
in their manuscri
The word piano in ltalian meanssoft; the word forte meansloud.
Themostcommonlyuseddynamicsignsare:
ITALIAN
piano
forte
SIGN
ENGTISH
soft
p
f
touo
mezzo piano
m?
moderatelysoft
mezzo forte
mf
moderatelyloud
pianissimo
pp
very soft
fortissimo
"tr
veryloud
Mezzo meansmoderately; ris/mo means very.
Dynamic
signsarrangedin orderfrom verysoftto veryloud,are: Itp, p, np,mf
A GradualChangein Dynamics
Termsusedto;ndicatea gradualchangein volume,
from soft to loud or loud Io soft are:
ITALIAN
SIGN
,f ,
"fl
ENGLISH
crescendo ol cresc.
diminuendo or dim.
or decrescendoor decresc.
gradually softer
-
Exercises
Writethe ltalianword for
f
the followingdynamicsigns: 'np
pp
.tr
nf
ll
Clanthe followingline,observing
the dynamicsignsindicated.
Useeverydynamicsign learnedaboveat leastonceto mark the appropriatedynamicsignson the
linesbeneaththe followingstory.
"Wakeup!" whisperedRonto his brotherSteven.The boyswalkedsoftlyout the door.Theyheard
a._
b._
the moderatelysoft soundof a distantairplane,whichbecamegraduallylouderand roaredveryloudlyas it
o._
flew overhead,then fadedaway gradually. Stevensaid, "Let's play basketball," in a
moderately
loudvoice.Theyshouteda loud "Yes!"asthey ran to the park.
h.
{t.
e.
19
Lessoru
TbmpoMarks
TEMPOis an ltalianword meaning"rate of speed."Tempomarkstell how fast or s/owthe music
shouldbe played.Tempomarksare alsowritten in Italian.
ITALIAN
ENGLISH
Largo
Adagio
Veryslow
Slow
Andante
Moderato
Movingalong(walkingspeed)
Moderately
AIIegro
Vivace
Quickly,cheerfully
Livelyand fast
Moderato may be combinedwith other words:
Allegro moderato = slightly slower than Allegro but quicker than Moderato
A GradualChangeof TemPo
Termsusedto indicatea gradualchangein tempo are:
ITALIAN
ritardando
accelerando
TERM
ritard. or rit.
accel.
ENGLISH
graduallyslower
gradually faster
Exercises
E
I
I
ln writing music,tempo markstell the
A verVslowtempomarkingis
A livelVand fasttempo markingis
Matchthe ltalianterm to its Englishmeaningby writingthe correctletterin eachblank'
a. Moderato
lly
cheerfu
Quickly.
b. Vivace
slower
Gradually
Livelyand fast
c. Adagio
Moderately
d. Ritardando
Movingalong(walkingspeed)
Accelerando
Veryslow
f. Largo
Graduallyfaster
s. Andante
Slow
h. Allegro
LEssoNzu
afifi
Articulation
Pages28 and 29 introducedthe wordsand signsthat indicatewhat speed(slowto fast)and volume(softto
loud)a musicalselectionisto be played.In addition,notesmay be performedin differentways.The manner
in whicha note is performedis calledARTICULAIIONLegato(seepage19)is one form of articulation.
ITALIAN
staccato
SYMBOL
I
ll
accent
(English)
sforzando
tenuto
la
3l
Playthe note loudet with a specialemphasis.
sf or sf"
.l
I
{o, t n.;
A, A
fermata
al
ENGLISH
PIaythe note shortand detached.
The ltaIianword means"detached."
I
A sudden,strongaccent.
The ltalianword means"forcing."
Holdthe notefor itsfull value.
The ltalianword means"held."
Holdthe note longerthan its normalvalue
(approximately
twicethe normalduration).
Exercises
Namethe articulation
symbolsbelow:
) o, t"n.
)
sf
", dz
"ti" for 8th notes,"ta" for quarternotes,"ta-ah"
Saythe followingexamples
usingthe syllables
for half notes,"ta-ah-ah"for dottedhalf notesand "ta-ah-ah-ah"
{or whole notes.Observe
all
tempo markings,
dynamics
and other musicalsymbols.
Allegro
Largo
mf
Moderato
sfz
Lessoru
21
D.C.,D.5., Codaand Fine
To reducethe amount of musicneededto notate a piece,severaladditionalltalianwords and symbols
are usedby composers
to indicaterepeats.
'
SIGN
ENGLISH
ITALIAN
Repeatfrom the beginning
Da Capo
D.C.
Repeatfrom the sign X
Dal Segno
D.S.
The end
Fine
Fine
An addedending
Coda*
S
*Whenthe Codasignappearsin the music,it meansto skipdirectly
to the Coda,whichis an addedendingusuallymarkedwith the samesign.
The ltalianwordsand symbols
for repeatingare frequentlycombined.
SIGN
ENGLISH
D.C.al Fine
Repeatfrom the beginningand playto the end (Fine).
1. Playthroughto the end
2. Returnto the beginning
3. Playto Fine
D.C.al Fine
Fine
D.S.at Fine
Repeatfrom the sign X and play to the end (Fine).
1, Playthroughto the end 2. ReturntoK
x
3. Playto Fine
D-5. al Fine
D.C.al Coda Repeatfrom the beginningand playto 0, then skipto the S Coda.
1. Play to D.C. al Coda
2. Return
to the beginning
3-Playto 6
o
4. Skipto g Codaandplay to the end.
D.C. al Coda
$ coa"
#l
D.S.at Coda Repeatfrom X and play to $, then skipto the S coda
1. Playto D.S.at Coda
x
2. Returnto lS
3. Playto #
4. Skipto 0 Coaaandplayto the end.
D.S. al Coda
S coao
1g-21
FoRLessorus
EanTnerrurNc
E
Listento the exampleand placethe
following dynamicmarkingswhere applicable:
f'mf, "ff
SymphonyNo. 9 ("Fromthe New World"),Op. 95
E
rrck25
E
Antonin DvoiSk(1841-190{)
In the exampleabove,circlethe appropriatetempo marking: Largo Allegro Andante
Listento the examole and notate where the ritardando (rit.) and accelerando(acce/.)occur.
Track?5
tr
Listento the examoleand placethe
places:
followingmarkingsin the appropriate
E
Listento the exampleand mark accents( > ) underthe notesthat are playedaccented'
El
Track28
Fermata(a)
Rondo Alla Turca(from 'Sonata in A Maior, K. 331")
Sforzando( gfz )
WolfgangAmadeusMozart (1756-1791)
In the exampleabove,circlethe appropriatetempo marking: Vivace Adagio Moderato
z
Shepherd'sHey
tr
Listento the exampleand placethe following two markings
in the appropriateplaces: d"
Listento the exampleand write staccato( ' ) marksunderthe appropriatequarternotes.
EnglishFolkSong
18-21
Revrewor Lsssotus
E
I
I
I
l;l
r
p,
in orderfrom softestto loudesttosoftest:'Illf, pp,f'mp,
Arrangethe followingdynamics
"ff
.,r.
PP
Mezzo(ltz) means
issimomeans
I
(cresc.)
means
Crescendo
(decresc.)
means
Diminuendo(dim') or decrescendo
Arrangethe following tempo marksin order from slowestto fastest:
Andante,Vivace,Adagio' Allegro,Moderato,Largo'
Fastest
;lowest
A
I
I
E
but quickerthan
Allesro moderatomeansslightlyslowerthan
Ritardando(ritard.or rit.) means
Accelerando(accel.)means
means
Staccato
E
Tenutomeansto
E
Thesignthat meansto hold a notefor longerthan its normalvalueis
tr
Write the word for eachsYmbol:
".J
b.>
,J
,, ,f"
E
to repeatfrom the beginningand playto the end is
Thesionthat indicates
tr
tr
to repeatfrom the Xi and playto the end
The signthat indicates
E
exampleas it would actuallybe playedwithoutthe D.C.al Fineor Fine.
Writethe followingmusical
@ o-c. atrine
o/
What is the term usedto identify a separatesectionthat endsa pieceof music?