Dynamics and articulation

▶ Open in Aratu to hear the examples, change them and do the exercises

Dynamic marks are the score's: ppp pp p mp mf f ff fff, and also sfz and fp. Inside a bar, a mark sits on its note with a colon, and holds from there on:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 90
melody = | p:c4 e g c5 | f:g4 _ _ _ |

The first bar is piano; the second, forte. The mark does not count as a beat, and it may have a space after the colon: p: c4 works too. In f: f4 the first f is forte and the second is the note F.

Crescendo and diminuendo

< after a note makes a crescendo and > a diminuendo, from the next beat to the next mark:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 90
melody = | p:c4< d e f | f:g4> f e d | p:c4 _ _ _ |

With no mark after it, a hairpin moves one step (from mf to f, say) by the end of the line.

Articulation: accent, marcato, staccato and ghost note

Articulation says how each note is attacked. There are four signs, from the strongest to the weakest:

Sign	Written	How it sounds
marcato	`S!`, `c4!`	the strongest, very marked
accent	`S`, `C4`	louder than its neighbours
staccato	`s'`, `c4'`	short, detached
ghost note	`(s)`, `(c4)`	almost silent, felt more than heard

An accent adds to the dynamic the music is at, and a marcato adds even more. Ghost notes are the spice of funk and samba on the snare: very light strokes between the strong hits.

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 96
drums {
  hh = cc cc cc cc
  bd = b - b b
  sd = (s)(s) S! (s)(s) S!
}

Take the parentheses off the ghost notes and hear how heavy the snare gets. The parentheses push those strokes into the background.

Ornaments: trill, mordent and grace note

Ornaments decorate a note with its neighbour in the key. They go after the note, with a colon, like the chords' :arp:

Ornament	Written	How it sounds
trill	`c5:tr`	the note and the one above, quickly in turn, for its whole length
mordent	`c5:mord`	the note, the one above and the note again, very fast, at its start
lower mordent	`c5:mordi`	the same, with the one below
grace note	`d5 c5	a small note, right before the main one

The neighbour is the key's: in G major, the trill on a4 goes to b4, and the one on e5 to f#5. To change it, put # or b after the tr, like the accidental over a score's tr: e5:trb trills with F natural.

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 80
key: G major
melody = | g4 b4 `c5 d5 _ | d5:mord c5 b4 a4 | a4:tr _ _ _ | g4 _ _ _ |

A grace note takes no beat: it sounds an instant before the main note. On a drum, the backtick does the same with the drum itself: `s is a flam, a light stroke just before, and ``s is a drag, two:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 90
drums {
  hh = cc cc cc cc
  bd = b - b -
  sd = - `S - ``S
}

Take the backticks off and hear the dry snare; with them, each hit is dragged into.

Changing a whole part

One line takes a whole part to a dynamic, whatever is written in it:

Try it▶ Hear it in Aratu

melody = | c4 e g e |
melody: pp

Try melody: ff, or melody: cresc to ff over 4 bars: a four-bar crescendo that starts from what is written and reaches ff.

Exercises

The first bar piano, the second forte.

Exercise▶ Hear it in Aratu

melody = | c4 d e f | g f e d |

See an answer

melody = | p:c4 d e f | f:g4 f e d |

Start at p and make a crescendo to f in the next bar.

Exercise▶ Hear it in Aratu

melody = | p:c4 d e f | f:g4 _ _ _ |

See an answer

melody = | p:c4< d e f | f:g4 _ _ _ |

On the snare, beats 2 and 4 marcato, with ghost notes on the eighths in between: (s) on the second half of beats 1 and 3.

Exercise▶ Hear it in Aratu

sd = s- s s- s

See an answer

sd = -(s) s! -(s) s!

Decorate the melody: a mordent on the first e5 and a trill on the last.

Exercise▶ Hear it in Aratu

tempo: 80
melody = | e5 d5 c5 d5 | e5 _ _ _ |

See an answer

tempo: 80
melody = | e5:mord d5 c5 d5 | e5:tr _ _ _ |

A grace note d5 before each c5.

Exercise▶ Hear it in Aratu

melody = | c5 g4 c5 g4 |

See an answer

melody = | `d5 c5 g4 `d5 c5 g4 |

On the snare, a flam on beat 2 and a drag on beat 4.

Exercise▶ Hear it in Aratu

sd = - s - s

See an answer

sd = - `s - ``s