SHOSYS ACADEMY 6: Conventions Of Italian Dynamic, Accent And Tempo Markings
Kelvin Sholar
1 Introduction To The Blog Series
This series of lessons and tests incorporates an easy music appreciation curriculum for adult beginners who are remote learning, or are self-taught. Lessons are posted on Mondays while Tests are posted on Saturdays. For more in depth and private guidance, I offer personal instruction by Zoom (Personal Meeting ID 8522954569) – for 1 dollar a minute. Time schedules range from a minimum of 30 minutes to a maximum of 60 minutes. Email me at [email protected] to set up personal instruction. I accept payments and cash gifts by Cash App ($KelvinSholar), Zelle ([email protected]) or Paypal (paypal.me/kelvinsholar).
2 Knowledge Of Ways And Means Of Dealing With Specifics
In Lesson 5, we learned about conventions of staff notation. In this Lesson we will learn about conventions of Italian dynamics and tempo markings. This knowledge resides in the Ways branch (1.20) of the Tree of Knowledge (1.00), at the third leaf from the left (1.21) – Conventions.
2.1 Conventions Of Italian Dynamic Markings
We have already learned that pitch, loudness and timbre are among the psychological properties of sound (Loy 154). Here, we are more concerned with loudness – which corresponds to amplitude or intensity. But, like pitch, loudness also depends on what range a frequency is in, and on how many other frequencies occur at the same time.
Roger Kamien describes dynamics as: “degrees of loudness or softness in music” (Kamien 6). We hear changes in dynamics when a performer plays more quiet, or more loud. We also hear changes in dynamics when when we add or take away instruments that play at a time.
In staff notation, we write Italian words to signify dynamics: they are called Italian dynamic markings (Kamien 6). The Italian dynamic markings include:
- ppp = pianississimo = very very quiet
- pp = pianissimo = very quiet
- p = piano = quiet
- mp = mezzo-piano = medium quiet
- mf = mezzo-forte = medium loud
- f = forte = loud
- ff = fortissimo = very loud
- fff = fortississimo = very very loud
Italian dynamic markings are not absolute and exact; different composers, performers and DAWs (digital audio work stations) use them in different ways.
Changes in loudness and softness include accents, where a performer emphasizes a tone by playing it louder than others; they look like > placed above the louder note. A marcato is a sign which means to play a note very loud; they look like ^ placed above the louder note.
According to Michael Miller, there are three additional markings that are used to indicate an accent that happens suddenly (Miller 82). They are:
- fz = forzando = sudden accent
- sf = sforazando = forced accent
- sfz = sforzando = more forced accent
In addition to these dynamic markings are three Italian terms for a gradual change in loudness (Kamien 6). They are shown below with relevant symbols; said symbols are placed beneath the length of the musical phrase which is to gradually change in loudness.
- crescendo (i.e. cresc.) = getting louder = <
- decrescendo (i.e. decresc.) = getting quieter = >
- diminuendo (i.e. dim.) = diminishing = >
2.2 Conventions Of Italian Tempo Markings
Roger Kamien defines tempo as: “the speed of the beat” (Kamien 32). In staff notation, a tempo marking normally appears top left, near the beginning of the composition written. Common Italian tempo markings include:
- largo = very very slow
- grave = very slow
- adagio = slow
- andante = moderately slow
- moderato = moderate
- allegretto = moderately fast
- allegro = fast
- vivace = lively
- presto = very fast
- prestissimo = as fast as possible
In addition to these Italian tempo markings, other terms are used to make a tempo marking more precise (Kamien 32):
- molto = very
- non troppo = not too much
Thus, molto allegro means “very fast“, and allegro non troppo means “not too fast“.
Finally, a set of Italian words are used to signify when tempo is to gradually increase or decrease:
- accelerando = getting faster
- ritardando = getting slower
Italian tempo markings are not absolute and exact; different composers and performers use them in different ways. However, to be as exact as possible, metronome settings are used to indicate how many beats should occur within a minute, and to indicate which time-value gets the beat. For example:
indicates the speed of 184 beats-per-minute and the half-note gets the beat.
3 Bibliography
Bloom, B. S.; Engelhart, M. D.; Furst, E. J.; Hill, W. H.; Krathwohl, D. R. Taxonomy Of Educational Objectives: The Classification Of Educational Goals. Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Company, 1956
Kamien, Roger. Music: An Appreciation. New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2018
Loy, Gareth. Musimathics The Mathematical Foundations of Music: Volume 1. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2006
Miller, Michael. The Complete Idiots Gude To Music Theory. New York: Alpha Books, 2005