Chart and worksheet
Dynamics markings: chart and worksheet
Printable dynamics chart from pp to ff with cresc., dim., sfz and fp, how often each appears in real songs, a hearing demo and a worksheet with answers.
Three separate pages: chart, worksheet, answers.
Download the PDF kit
Free to print and share. No sign-up, no e-mail, no watermark. A4 for most of the world, Letter for the US and Canada; both are black and white, with the fonts embedded.
Dynamics markings chart
Softest to loudest · musictheoryprint.com
| Sign | Italian | Meaning | Written in 1,462 real songs |
|---|---|---|---|
| pp | pianissimoliterally “very gentle” | Indicating that the piece is to be played very softly. | 4,555 marks · 889 songs |
| p | pianoliterally “gentle” | Softly, as a dynamic in a piece of music. | 10,307 marks · 1,298 songs |
| mp | mezzo pianoliterally “half-gentle” | moderately soft | 397 marks · 153 songs |
| mf | mezzo forteliterally “half-strong” | Louder than mezzo piano, but softer than forte. | 3,235 marks · 746 songs |
| f | forteliterally “strong” | Loudly, as a dynamic in a piece of music. | 6,432 marks · 1,019 songs |
| ff | fortissimoliterally “very strong” | Indicating that the piece is to be played very loudly. | 1,440 marks · 347 songs |
| cresc. | crescendoliterally “growing” | An instruction to play gradually more loudly, denoted by a long, narrow angle with its apex on the left ( <), by musicians called a hairpin. | 1,287 songs (word, abbreviation or hairpin) |
| dim. | diminuendoliterally “dwindling” | A dynamic mark directing that a passage is to be played gradually more softly | 1,241 songs (word, abbreviation or hairpin) |
| decresc. | decrescendoliterally “shrinking” | An instruction to play gradually more softly. | 17 songs (word, abbreviation or hairpin) |
| sfz | sforzandoliterally “strained” | A mark that indicates that a note is to be played with a strong initial attack. | 88 marks · 42 songs |
| fp | fortepiano | loud, then immediately soft | 206 marks · 75 songs |
p is written 10,307 times, mp only 397: about 26 to 1. Composers of art songs choose between “soft” and “very soft” far more often than they write “moderately soft”.
The same scores also contain ppp (524 marks), fff (69 marks), sf (1,611 marks) and fz (232 marks). Counted from the dynamic marks in 1,462 art songs (31,148 marks, a median of 15 per song; 95 songs have none). These are art songs, not all music. The levels played by the buttons are demonstrations made in your browser, not measured loudness.
Italian words, meanings and literal translations: Wiktionary and Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0; shared under the same licence. Counts: OpenScore Lieder Corpus (CC0). musictheoryprint.com/charts/dynamics-markings
Dynamics worksheet
Score: / 33
Name Date
A. Match each Italian word to its sign
Write the letter of the sign next to the word.
- 1.fortissimo
- 2.crescendo
- 3.mezzo forte
- 4.piano
- 5.mezzo piano
- 6.diminuendo
- 7.forte
- 8.pianissimo
- A.pp
- B.dim.
- C.ff
- D.mf
- E.f
- F.p
- G.mp
- H.cresc.
B. Put the signs in order, softest first
C. Circle the louder sign
- 1.mpormf
- 2.mforff
- 3.mforp
- 4.forff
- 5.fforp
- 6.forp
D. Does it get louder or softer?
- 1. dim. louder softer
- 2. louder softer
- 3. louder softer
- 4. cresc. louder softer
E. Write the sign for the English meaning of the Italian word
- 1.“very gentle”
- 2.“gentle”
- 3.“very strong”
- 4.“half-strong”
- 5.“half-gentle”
Italian words, meanings and literal translations: Wiktionary and Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0; shared under the same licence. Counts: OpenScore Lieder Corpus (CC0). musictheoryprint.com/charts/dynamics-markings
Dynamics worksheet — answers
33 answers
A. Match
- 1. fortissimo → C (ff)
- 2. crescendo → H (cresc.)
- 3. mezzo forte → D (mf)
- 4. piano → F (p)
- 5. mezzo piano → G (mp)
- 6. diminuendo → B (dim.)
- 7. forte → E (f)
- 8. pianissimo → A (pp)
B. Order
- 1. pp < p < mp < mf < f < ff
- 2. pp < mp < f < ff
C. Louder
- 1. mp or mf → mf
- 2. mf or ff → ff
- 3. mf or p → mf
- 4. f or ff → ff
- 5. ff or p → ff
- 6. f or p → f
D. Louder or softer?
- 1. dim. → Softer
- 2. opening hairpin → Louder
- 3. closing hairpin → Softer
- 4. cresc. → Louder
E. Write the sign
- 1. “very gentle” → pp
- 2. “gentle” → p
- 3. “very strong” → ff
- 4. “half-strong” → mf
- 5. “half-gentle” → mp
Order of the six levels, softest to loudest: pp < p < mp < mf < f < ff. A crescendo (cresc., an opening hairpin) means gradually louder; a diminuendo (dim., a closing hairpin) means gradually softer.
Italian words, meanings and literal translations: Wiktionary and Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0; shared under the same licence. Counts: OpenScore Lieder Corpus (CC0). musictheoryprint.com/charts/dynamics-markings
musictheoryprint.com · free to print and share
Using the chart and the worksheet#
Dynamics say how loud to play, but only in relation to each other: mp is quieter than mf, and neither is a fixed volume. The chart lists the six levels from softest to loudest, then the signs that change the volume during a passage.
- Print the chart to keep on the music stand, and the worksheet for a lesson. The worksheet has its own answer page, so you can print the two separately.
- The play buttons sound one note at each level, and play a crescendo and a diminuendo. The levels are examples made in your browser, so use your instrument for the real thing.
- The counts come from the dynamic marks in the scores of 1,462 art songs. They show what composers of that repertoire wrote, not how loud music is in general.
Sources and licences for the text, scores and recordings on this page are on the credits page.
Sources: Wikipedia: Dynamics (music), Wiktionary, OpenScore Lieder Corpus.