Dynamics and Articulation

In this final article of Chapter 1 of AP Music Theory, we will discuss the expressive elements of dynamics and articulation, and how they can affect a piece of music. We will also introduce the concept of sight-singing more formally, and suggest a practice routine to follow as preparation for the exam.

What is an Expressive Element in Music?

So far, we have covered some of the foundational elements of music: pitch, rhythm, keys, etc. There are still some more of these to discuss, including form, timbre, and texture. These building blocks affect how music sounds essentially.

However, these rudimentary elements also offer opportunities for individual interpretation. Such opportunities inherently mean that every performance of a given piece of music may be different. For example, a given performance of a work may be louder or softer than another performance of the same work. Thus, the volume of a piece of music (called the dynamic level) is an example of one of these expressive elements of music. What other expressive elements have we already talked about?

That's right: tempo is an expressive element of music. This is most clear when considering the concept of tempo rubato. Remember, playing in the rubato style means minutely stretching some notes, giving others their full value, and shortening some others. Which notes to lengthen/shorten, and by how much, is left to the performer. Hence, this is an expressive element.

An Introduction to Dynamics

As we mentioned, dynamics describe how relatively loud or soft music is. To notate a dynamic, abbreviations for the Italian words ranging from very soft to very loud are printed in a score or part. Here's a table that details each:

These have naturally extended outward, with some composers using markings like ppp/fff, or even pppp/ffff. Typically, dynamics outside of this range are rarely seen.

Consider the above example. Play it on a keyboard or other instrument with the correct dynamics as shown.

Changing Dynamics

So, let's say we start a new piece of ours at forte. Great! The initial phrase in our piece will be played loud. But let's say we have another phrase afterwards that we want to be played piano. How can we indicate this change?

Well, we have two options. As with tempo, we can change dynamics gradually or immediately. Let's look at how to notate a gradual dynamics change.

In music, we can indicate a gradual dynamic change two ways: first, we can use a graphic symbol, sometimes called a hairpin (very technical term, I know). This is what you see on the left side of the image above.

We can also simply use the words crescendo or decrescendo in the music to indicate gradually getting louder or softer, respectively. Sometimes, abbreviations for the full words are written (cresc. and decresc.).

We can also change dynamics immediately. In this case, we can simply write the new dynamic we are wanting in the part. However, since this is actually quite rare, sometimes we wish to indicate that yes, we actually do want a sudden dynamic change. Or perhaps we wish it to be emphasized. Either way, we can use the word subito, or sub. for short, to indicate a sudden change. For example:

Another way we can indicate a sudden dynamic change is by putting two dynamics together. For example:

A fortepiano is just that, play forte, then suddenly play piano. This is typically applied to one note, so the note should start at a forte dynamic and then quickly decrescendo to a piano dynamic. Other compound dynamics like

have a line that connects the two. This is typical if either of the dynamics contain a 'mezzo' in the name. However, in practice, such combined dynamics are rarely seen, aside from fortepiano.

Dynamic Accents

In practice, a fortepiano is the same as an accent over a note. An accent is simply a mini version of the graphic decrescendo placed over a note to indicate that the note should be played with a loud dynamic at first, and then quickly decrescendo. Here's what it looks like:

In this case, the second note should be accented.

Another similar concept is the sforzando, which indicates that a note should be played with a sudden, strong emphasis. Typically, sforzandos are more extreme than accents: they are louder and more sudden. They can be abbreviated with sf or sfz. Here's an example:

Sometimes, you may say smfz or sffz, describing different levels of sforzando. These are also often combined with an accent.

Terraced Dynamics

In Baroque-era music, there was no way to indicate a gradual change in dynamic level.

Thus, composers simply wrote loud music and soft music. Oftentimes, there would be a sudden contrast in a particular part between loud to soft (or soft to loud) so that a particular balance between instruments could be achieved. Typically, the melody would be loud and everybody else would be quiet. Then, if the same melody shifted to another instrument, they would be loud and others would be quiet.

This is called terraced dynamics. Take a listen to an example of it here:

The opening to this movement starts with a string section playing a melody at a loud, forte dynamic. Then, it shifts to playing the same melody at a soft, piano dynamic. This immediate shift is an example of terraced dynamics.

An Introduction to Articulation

In music, sometimes we have specific ways that we want a singular note to be played. Perhaps we want a loud, short note. Maybe a softer, longer note. Even a group of notes can have differing interpretations: should they be played connected, smooth but detached, or clearly separated from each other?

To address all of the previous examples and more, we can use articulation. This is simply an aspect of performance that describes the way a sound starts (or its attack) and ends. It also describes how connected (or detached) adjacent pitches are. In music, articulations may be shown with symbols, or indicated with words. Below are some different, common types of articulation.

A staccato dot is placed on the space above the note, and indicates that the note should be played with a light, bouncy sound, detached from the next note. Here's an example of a staccato sound:

A tenuto line indicates to play a note for its full length (even slightly longer, in some cases). Generally, the note should still be detached from the next note. Here's an example of tenuto playing:

Notice that even though the note is held for its full value, the attack of the next note is still audible.

While tenuto means to hold the note for its full value, legato means to play the note smoothly and connected (if possible) to the next note. Legato style playing is indicated in music with a notation called a slur. Thus, in the excerpt above, the curved line is called the slur, and it indicates a legato style.

Notice that I said that the notes should be connected, if possible. This means that the notes should be played without an attack, and that the notes should smoothly lead into one another. This is possible, for example, on a wind instrument that has valves or keys like a saxophone, because in order to change notes, a continuous column of air can be used over many different key fingerings. However, on an instrument like the piano, which uses 88 hammers to strike each individual key, truly connected notes is impossible. Take a look at how a legato style is interpreted on each instrument:

The last accent we will talk about is called the marcato accent. Think of these as loud and detached, like combining an accent and staccato marking. Here's an example of how it's performed:

It is worth noting that different performers will interpret each of these markings differently, and that what is shown here is simply one interpretation. However, there is one articulation that is consistent throughout performances, which is the tremolo.

A tremolo is simply the rapid and continuous repetition of a single pitch. You can also have a tremolo between two pitches, like so:

Here's an example of this effect:

Articulations can also be marked with words, such as sempre tenuto, which simply means "always tenuto." Word markings will generally include the name of the articulation, which we covered above.

Practice

Let's do some practice identifying dynamics and articulation in written and performed music.

Refer to the following piece:

Analyze the following aspects of the piano solo (i.e. describe each using musical terminology):

Make an argument about the character of the following excerpts of Liszt’s “Spanish Fantasy” S. 253 using dynamics, articulation, and tempo as your evidence.

An Introduction to Sight Singing

In AP Music Theory, and college-level music theory and beyond, sight-singing is an important skill. Not only does it grow your musicianship, but it also reinforces the concepts you learn in "written theory" as well. Starting to develop your sight singing early is key to being able to do well at it in the exam.

So, what is sight-singing and how does one do it?

Sighting singing is simply singing at sight, or singing a melody that you have never seen before. Unless you have perfect pitch, the first one will need to provided for you. Then, you should be able to use relative pitch to derive the following pitches based on the intervals between them. Thus, practicing your intervals is extremely important to being able to succeed at sight singing. What does this mean?

If I were to tell you "play a C on the piano. Then sing a major third above it," could you do it?

If the answer is no, then no worries. That's because intervals will come around in chapter 2. But for now, take a look at some of these melodies. Play them on the piano. Then, try to sing them back. If you can't do it in one go, try taking it note by note. Internalize the interval from the previous note to the next, and also from the tonic note (home-base) to the next. 

Again, don't worry if you can't sing these yet. Try to play them on piano and then sing them back, and take it note by note.

Notice that these melodies don't have any expressive elements to them. They are simply notes and rhythms.

If we were to change the examples to these, how would they differ?

In the AP exam, the only expressive elements you might encounter are a singular dynamic marking and slurs, which denote the phrases that you should sing the melody in. In other words, you should breathe before the start of a slur, and do not breathe between notes underneath it.

We've already addressed some pretty advanced stuff in sight singing, but even more specific strategies to use when performing a melody at-sight will be addressed later on, as well. For now, get started with practicing sight singing using this online program:

https://www.teoria.com/en/exercises/ss.php