DYNAMICS & EXPRESSIVE TECHNIQUES.
What are dynamics?
Dynamics are the graduations in the volume of sound, from loud to soft, in a piece of music.
Dynamics also describe featured changes, such as a gradual increase or decrease in loudness,
contrasting volumes and emphasis on particular sounds. Dynamic levels and
changes are often indicated using Italian terms — for example, pianissimo (meaning ‘very soft’),
fortissimo (‘very loud’) and crescendo (‘gradually becoming louder’).
What are expressive techniques?
Expressive techniques refers to the musical detail that articulates a style or interpretation of a style.
They are the details and additions that a composer or performer applies in a piece of music to
enhance its style. For example, an expressive technique for an electric guitar is the use of distortion
to convey a rock music style.
Expressive techniques and dynamics are linked. Without attention to these features, music can lack
interest and variety.
DYNAMICS:Dynamics are the volume of sound, and when discussed we are analysing this volume of sound and
the effects it has on the music:
 Show loud or soft the music is
 How the volume changes during the piece
 Where the emphasis (accent) is placed on particular sounds
 The impact the volume has on the music.
Composers may use terms and markings on their music to express relativevolume levels or changes
in volume levels. The development of dynamics in Western art music through the centuries and
different musical periods is more straightforward than some other developments in music.
 In musical styles of the medieval period (about AD 500 to 1400) and the Renaissance (1400
to 1600), dynamics were not a significant feature. Volume levels were generally even
throughout a piece.
 The Baroque period (about 1600 to 1750) saw the beginning of the use of dynamics in music,
but only in terms of loud and soft (terraced dynamics). Terraced dynamics are a distinct
feature of Baroque music, owing mainly to the limitations of the keyboard instruments of
the time.
 The Classical period (about 1750 to 1820) and its composers, such as Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart (1756–1791) and Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809), used soft and loud dynamic
levels and also explored gradual changes between volume levels (becoming louder or
becoming softer).
 The style of the Romantic period (1815 to 1910) was more dramatic, with composers
exploring a range of dynamics to convey powerful moods.
 In the art music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, composers and performers
experimented greatly with all musical concepts, including exploring the extremes of dynamic
levels.
The changes in dynamics over these musical periods were largely due to improvements in
instrumental technology. For example, the harpsichord’s construction restricted its ability to
produce different dynamic levels, but the development of the pianoforte (later abbreviated to
‘piano’) in the Classical period allowed composers to experiment much more with dynamics.
Instruments and electronic sounds and effects today make great use of dynamics, with any volume
level possible.
DYNAMICS & EXPRESSIVE TECHNIQUES.
EXPRESSIVE TECHNIQUES:
Expressive techniques refer to the way a performer plays a piece of music. The composer indicates
specific details and techniques to guide the musician’s performance which are directions to help
portray the style of the music. Expressive techniques are coupled with dynamics; without these
features to give a variety of ‘shades’ to a piece of music, it would sound quite unexciting and plain. A
wide range of expressive techniques have been developed over time. They mainly relate to tempo,
style, articulation, ornamentation, instrumental and vocal techniques, and electronic manipulation.
Many of these features overlap in meaning. Music scores can contain many specific terms that
identify expressive techniques.
COMMON TERMS USED:Pianissimo
Piano
Mezzo piano
Mezzo forte
Forte
Fortissimo
Crescendo
Diminuendo
Sforzando
Subito
Terraced dynamics
Forte-piano
Dynamic swell
Very soft
Soft
Moderately soft
Moderately loud
Loud
Very loud
Gradually getting louder
Gradually getting softer
With sudden emphasis
Suddenly
Loud and soft elements in a piece of music with no graduations
Notes attacked loudly, then immediately soft
To increase or decrease gradually in volume
DYNAMICS & EXPRESSIVE TECHNIQUES.
Legato
Accent
Vibrato
Marcato
Tremolo
Tenuto
Glissando
Arco
Pizzicato
Spiccato
Finger picking
Mute
Strummed
Double stopping
Slap
Pop
Pitch bend
Palm mute
Drum roll
Flutter tonguing
Distortion
Delay
Echo
Scat singing
Slur
Doink
Ornamentation
Harmonics
Sul ponticello
Con sordina
Senza sordina
Acciaccatura
Appoggiatura
Rubato
Ritenuto
Fermata
Smooth and well detached
Sudden emphasis on a note or notes
Vibrating, quivering or shaking on a note
Marked
A rapid repetition of the same note
Held for their entire value
A slide from one note to another
With the bow
Pluck the strings with a finger
Light staccato achieved by the bow bouncing off the strings
Pick the individual strings
A device placed on the bell that dampens or alters the sound
of the instrument
Scraping the hand across the strings of the instrument to
produce a sound
Playing two notes at the same time
Usually related to the bass guitar, when the musicians hit the
strings with such emphasis to produce a note
Pulling the strings and releasing so that is drops and ‘pops’,
almost like a forceful pluck.
Making a note temporarily sharp or flat
Plucking the strings with the fingers while the damping is in
effect
Rolling effect caused by rapid left and right strokes on a drum.
A rapid movement, creating a flutter, usually an ‘r’ sound
Changing the sound so it is distorted, usually through an
effects pedal or amplifier
A repeat of a sound or sounds
A musical tone produced by the reflection of an impulsive
sound
Improvised ‘nonsense’ syllables that are sung
Two different notes are joined creating a smooth effect
Sliding upwards in pitch at the same end of a note
Musical decoration (Eg:- trills, mordents, accents etc.)
Creating multiple tones off an original note
Playing on the bridge
With mutes
Without mutes
A ‘crushed’ note; a note played at the same time as, and
crushed into, the following note, where the time value and
length of the note does not change.
A ‘leaning’ note; a note played which leans into the next note,
taking some of its note value
With freedom; robbing the time
Held back, immediately slower
A pause