Dynamics in music explained for kids: from piano to forte

Dynamics are how loud or how soft music is played. Composers mark them with small letters under the notes. The letter p stands for piano, which means soft. The letter f stands for forte, which means loud. The other marks are built from those two.

Loud and soft are easy for a child to hear and name.

The six main marks

Mark	Word	Meaning
pp	Pianissimo	Softer than piano
p	Piano	Soft
mp	Mezzo piano	Medium soft
mf	Mezzo forte	Medium loud
f	Forte	Loud
ff	Fortissimo	Louder than forte

Mezzo is the Italian word for half or medium. The ending “issimo” makes a word stronger.

The marks do not stand for an exact volume. Forte on a flute is not as loud as forte on a trumpet. Each mark tells the player how loud to play compared with the music around it.

Getting louder and softer

Crescendo. Grow louder, bit by bit. It is often shortened to cresc.

Diminuendo or decrescendo. Grow softer, bit by bit. It is often shortened to dim.

Both can be drawn as a wedge under the notes. A wedge that opens to the right means grow louder. A wedge that closes to the right means grow softer. Players call these signs hairpins.

Sudden changes

Subito. At once, with no warning. Subito piano means drop straight to soft.

Sforzando. A sudden, strong push on one note or chord. It is written sfz.

Accent. A small sideways wedge above or below one note. Play that note with more force than the notes near it.

Why the instrument is called a piano

Around the year 1700, an Italian instrument maker named Bartolomeo Cristofori built a new keyboard instrument. On the harpsichord, a key made the same loudness however hard it was pressed. On the new instrument, a soft touch made a soft sound and a firm touch made a loud one.

It was named for that: a keyboard with soft and loud. In Italian, that is piano and forte. The name was later shortened to pianoforte, and then to piano.

Pieces that show dynamics

Soft, then one loud chord. The second movement of Haydn’s “Surprise” Symphony. A quiet tune repeats, softer the second time, and then the whole orchestra plays one loud chord.

One long crescendo. “In the Hall of the Mountain King” by Grieg. It begins soft and low. The same tune repeats, louder and faster each time, until the full orchestra is crashing.

A crescendo that lasts the whole piece. Boléro by Ravel. A snare drum taps the same rhythm from start to finish. The tune passes from one instrument to the next, and the music grows from pianissimo to fortissimo over about fifteen minutes.

Soft from start to finish. “The Swan” from The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns. A cello plays over two quiet pianos.

Loud to the end. The last minutes of the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky, with bells and cannon fire.

Games to play at home

Loud and soft echo. Clap a short pattern, loud or soft. Your child claps it back the same way. Then swap.

Conductor hands. One person conducts with no words. Hands far apart mean loud. Hands close together mean soft. Everyone else sings a known song and follows the hands.

Draw the sound. Play “In the Hall of the Mountain King.” Give your child a crayon and a long strip of paper. The line stays low when the music is soft and climbs as it grows.

Card flip. Print the tempo and dynamics word cards. Turn over one card at a time while your child plays or sings. Each new card changes the volume.

Whisper to roar. Count from one to eight together. Start at pianissimo and reach fortissimo by eight. Then count back down.

How this shows up in lessons

A beginner’s first pieces often carry one or two dynamic marks. Teachers ask for them early, because playing the right notes at one flat volume is only part of playing the piece.

At home, ask one question after your child plays: where was the loud part? If the child can point to it on the page, the mark has done its job.

The words for speed are covered in tempo words in music. For the staff, note names, and rhythm, see music theory for parents. To hear dynamics in a piece with a story, try the Carnival of the Animals listening guide.