
The Italian word mezzo means “moderately.” Musicians say mezzo forte to mean moderately loud and mezzo piano to mean moderately quiet. Several Italian words and suffixes can modify piano and forte to create a range of dynamics from very quiet to very loud ( Example 1). In sheet music, these words are written either above or below the staff. The dynamic marking forte means loud, while piano means quiet.

In Western musical notation, we often use italicized Italian words, which can be abbreviated, to describe dynamics. Dynamicsĭynamics indicate the loudness of music. These elements include dynamics, articulations, tempi, stylistic periods, and structural markers. In this chapter we will explore other elements of music besides pitch (discussed in previous chapters) and duration (discussed in following chapters).

Musicians use a variety of Italian words to specify dynamics in Western musical notation. Dynamics indicate the loudness of music.
