Dynamics and Articulation Markings Explained

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Dynamic markings tell the performer how loud a passage should be, and articulation markings tell the performer how each note begins and ends. Both are relative. A pp in a quiet chamber and a pp in a large hall are different sounds, and a staccato on a bowed string is a different gesture from a staccato on the piano. The score sets a direction, and the performer chooses the actual sound from the room, the instrument and the passage around the mark.

#Dynamic markings form a ladder of relative levels

The main dynamic markings are Italian abbreviations, and they run in steps from very soft to very loud. Each step is louder than the one before it, but no marking says how many decibels a step is. For the staff and its clefs, see how to read sheet music.

Ppp and fff exist for passages beyond the ends of the ladder, and their meaning follows the same pattern. Because the levels are relative, a player checks each marking against the players around them. A forte in a solo passage and a forte in a full orchestra are not the same sound.

Sf and fp are not levels. A sforzando marks one note as sudden and strong, and the notes after it return to the prevailing dynamic. A forte-piano marks a loud attack that falls at once to soft. The examples on this page cannot play either.

The first example plays a seven-note line marked pp. The playback engine sets its loudness on a fixed scale, so the difference between pp and ff is clear even though a real instrument will not follow the same numbers.

The second plays the same line marked ff.

Only the loudness changes between the two. The playback uses 30 per cent of the loudest setting for pp and the full setting for ff, with p, mp, mf and f set between them. These are playback levels for listening, not decibels.

#Hairpins change the level across a phrase

Much music changes level within a phrase. A crescendo, shown by a hairpin that widens to the right, asks for a gradual increase in loudness across the notes it spans. A diminuendo, or decrescendo, is the reverse, a hairpin that narrows to the right and asks for a gradual decrease. The hairpin begins at the level of the marking before it, so a crescendo that starts from p is a different instruction from one that starts from mf.

Subito, meaning suddenly, marks an abrupt change, as in subito p after a loud passage. The examples on this page hold one level from start to finish, so they cannot demonstrate a hairpin or a subito change. To hear the difference on your own instrument, play the same line at mp, then mf, then f, and compare the three.

#Articulation marks the start and length of each note

Articulation marks govern how a note is joined to the next and how long it sounds within its written value. Most are written as small signs above or below the note.

• A staccato is a dot. It shortens the note and separates it from the next. A staccato quarter note is still written as a quarter note, and the dot changes only how long it is played.
• A staccatissimo is a wedge. It asks for a shorter and more forceful separation than a dot.
• A tenuto is a short horizontal line. It asks for the full written value, often with slight emphasis.
• An accent, shaped like a greater-than sign, asks for emphasis on that note alone.
• A marcato, marked with a caret, asks for a heavy, clearly marked attack. Its exact weight varies between composers and publishers, so the context decides.
• A slur is a curved line over notes of different pitches. It asks for legato, a smooth connection in which each note is held until the next begins. A slur is not a tie. A tie joins two notes of the same pitch into one sound.
• A portato, dots under a slur, sits between the two: each note is separated slightly while the line stays connected.

The engraved examples in this article do not draw these signs. The articulation setting changes only the playback. The next two examples play the same four notes, first staccato and then legato.

Under the staccato setting, each note sounds for about a third of its written value, so the gaps between notes are audible. The legato setting does the opposite, holding each note slightly past its value so that the notes run into each other.

Listen for the gaps. In the first example the silence between notes is part of the musical line. In the second there is none.

#Dynamics and articulation combine, and instruments change the meaning

A mark of f with staccato is a loud, sharp attack. A mark of p with legato is a soft, connected line. A performer should not read either pair as a louder or softer version of the other. Each mark sets a different property of the same note: loudness in one case, and length and joining in the other.

The same sign also means different things on different instruments. On a bowed string, staccato can mean a short stroke on the string, a bounced spiccato, or a martelé. On the piano, staccato is a quick release of the key. On wind instruments, tonguing shapes the start of each note. The string bowing article covers the bowing forms in detail, and the same dot is a different physical act for each.

#Where this misleads people

The first error is to treat dynamic markings as fixed. A pp is a relative instruction. In a loud tutti it sounds soft only against the sound around it, and the same marking in a chamber passage asks for a different sound. Choose the level by the context.

The second is to think staccato changes the note value. It does not. Staccato changes how the note is played, while the notated value stays the same and the bar still counts the full duration. A dot does not remove a beat from a bar.

The third is to read a slur as a tie. Both are curved lines, but only a tie joins notes of the same pitch and makes them one sound. A slur joins notes of different pitches into one phrase, and a single slur can span a long passage.

The fourth is to think a marking applies only to the note it sits under. A dynamic stays in force until the next dynamic marking, and an articulation usually governs only the notes it touches. A phrase is shaped by the changes between its marks, so a single p on the first note says little about where the phrase should go.

#What to do with it

Choose a short melody of five to eight notes, and play it at pp, mp, mf, f and ff. Listen to each step and decide, for your instrument and room, where the ladder begins and ends. Then play the same melody staccato, legato and tenuto, and listen to the change in the joins.

Next, combine the two. Play the melody mf and staccato, then p and legato, and say which one is more active and which more settled. Write out a four-bar line with at least one hairpin, one staccato and one slur, and play it at a tempo you can keep. Before you start, say the marks aloud in order, so that each sign changes your playing before the note arrives. Tempo words such as largo to presto set the pace that the dynamics sit on, and the two should be learned together.

Questions

What does mf mean in music?

Mf is mezzo forte, moderately loud. It sits between mp (moderately soft) and f (loud). Its actual loudness depends on the instrument, the room and the surrounding phrase, because dynamic markings are relative and not fixed decibel levels.

What is the difference between staccato and staccatissimo?

Both shorten a note and separate it from the next. Staccato is marked with a dot. Staccatissimo is marked with a wedge and asks for a shorter, more forceful separation.

What does a hairpin mean?

A hairpin is a pair of lines that open or close. An opening hairpin, which widens to the right, asks for a crescendo, a gradual increase in loudness. A closing hairpin asks for a diminuendo, a gradual decrease, over the length it spans.

What is the difference between legato and tenuto?

Legato means notes joined smoothly, usually shown by a slur over notes of different pitches. Tenuto means a note held for its full value, often with slight emphasis, and it is marked with a short horizontal line over the note. Legato concerns the join between notes, and tenuto concerns the length of one note.