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What are dynamics?

Part of MusicPlaying and PerformingYear 1Year 2

A cartoon character called Asha playing a clarinet.

What are dynamics?

Dynamics is the word we use to describe how loud or quiet a piece of music is.

Another word for dynamics is volume. Changing the volume might make the listener feel different emotions.

Musicians can play loud, quiet or somewhere in between. This might make the listener feel happy, sad or sleepy!

A cartoon character called Asha playing a clarinet.
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Watch: What are dynamics?

In this video Tchaikovsky teaches the band Lightning Jelly all about dynamics.

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Piano = p which means quiet. Forte = f which means loud.

What do piano and forte mean?

When playing music, Italian or German words are often used to describe the dynamics.

  • Piano means quiet.
  • Forte means loud.

The words are often shortened to just one letter. When reading music, the letters appear under the notes like this.

Piano = p which means quiet. Forte = f which means loud.
A two bar score showing piano written beneath the first note and forte beneath the fifth note.
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A cartoon of a boy waving his hands in the air and girl crouching down low.

Watch: YolanDa - Something 'bout that noise

Move along with YolanDa and her band as they help you learn more about dynamics.

When the band play loud, wave your hands in the air.

When the band play quiet, crouch down low or wave your hands low.

After, see if you can use the actions to move along to your favourite song!

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Ruby from Lightning Jelly playing her bass guitar loudly. The word forte and some 'f' symbols are around her.

Glossary

Here are the meanings of some important words.

Dynamics - The volume of the music

Piano - Quiet

Forte - Loud

Ruby from Lightning Jelly playing her bass guitar loudly. The word forte and some 'f' symbols are around her.
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Activities

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