Dynamics (Unit 6)

Hello and welcome back! I'm Joseph Hoffman,
and today we're learning about dynamics.
To help understand the power and excitement of dynamics,
we're going to be
getting lots of help from Mr. Ludwig Von Beethoven
and his wonderful nine symphonies.
For starters, let's listen to some of the second movement of "Beethoven's Ninth Symphony".
Dynamics are the louds and the softs in music, and
everything in between.
On the softest, quietest end of the
spectrum is pianissimo,
which is abbreviated like this.
Pianissimo means very soft.
One small notch louder is piano which looks like this.
Piano means soft. Next comes mezzo piano,
which means medium soft.
If we go a little louder we get to mezzo forte, and
then forte.
Forte means strong and loud.
Finally, we get to fortissimo which means
very strong and loud.
Let's practice saying all the different
dynamic levels. Which by the way,
as you probably guessed are all Italian words.
for fun let's say the dynamics with the appropriate volume.
I'll say it first, then you repeat.
My turn, pianissimo.
Your turn.
Piano
mezzo piano
mezzo forte
forte
fortissimo
Now let's see what you remember.
I'll hold up a dynamic card, and you say its name using the correct dynamic volume.
What's this first dynamic card you see?
If you said mezzo piano you're correct.
How about this one?
if you said mezzo forte you're correct.
It's medium loud.
What about this one?
If you said pianissimo, you're correct.
How about this?
If you said forte you're correct.
How about this one?
If you said piano you're correct.
Piano means soft.
What about this?
If you said fortissimo, you're correct.
Nice job!
You can think of progressing up each dynamic level as if you're going up steps on a staircase,
but there's another way you can increase volume more
smoothly and gradually
using what's called a crescendo.
A crescendo means to smoothly and gradually grow louder.
Let's listen to an example of crescendo.
This time we're going to hear a bit of "Beethoven's Fifth Symphony", fourth movement.
A good crescendo usually starts soft,
then gradually grows, and grows,
There's nothing better than a good
crescendo like that,
except maybe a crescendo while eating dark chocolate,
yeah...
Anyway, a crescendo can be marked in your score either with this abbreviation,
or with this cymbal.
Crescendo has an opposite called diminuendo, which is
sometimes also called decrescendo.
Those two dynamic terms mean the same thing.
Gradually get softer.
Diminuendo is abbreviated like this in your music, or
shown like this.
Let's here this time from "Beethoven's Sixth Symphony" near the end of the first movement
for a nice example of a diminuendo.
Now let's review all of our dynamics. Say
them with me. Here we go.
pianissimo
piano
mezzo piano
mezzo forte
forte
fortissimo
crescendo
diminuendo or decrescendo
Now let's play a little game to review.
I'll play some music for you, and then show you two dynamic markings.
You decide which dynamic matches what you are hearing, and tell me which one is correct.
Let's give it a try.
What dynamic did you hear? Piano or forte?
If you said piano you're correct.
Let's try the next one.
All right, did you hear a crescendo or a diminuendo?
If you said crescendo you're correct.
Which is it?
If you said pianissimo you're correct.
Here's the next one.
What do you think?
If you said forte you're correct.
Next up.
What do you think?
If you said mezzo piano you're correct.
Here's your next one.
If you said mezzo
forte you're correct,
and here's the last one.
What do you think?
If you said fortissimo, you're correct.
Thanks for learning about dynamics today with me.
As a musician, I hope you'll always remember to use dynamics in your playing
to help tell an exciting and meaningful story with the music you create.
So,
happy playing,
and see you next time.
Quite as a mouse, that's me, yep,
quiet as a mouse.
Hey guys, hey, could you quiet down please?
Guys, come on I can't even hear myself think!
I love peace and pianissimo