Download LESSON 4 - Dynamics & Interpretation

Basically, Music
(a class on music basics)
Class 4: Dynamics and Interpretation
There are three dimensions to a song and, so far, we have covered three of them- pitch and tempo. The third
is the dynamics of the song or how loud or soft do we sing. Some of the songs have dynamic markings and
some are left to the song leader’s interpretation. In the church, singing has evolved mostly to a fast tempo
song must be sung loud and a slow tempo song must be sung softly. And there are many time that when a
song is marked to sing a phrase softy, it is always slowed down, which starts a domino effect throughout the
remainder verses.
Dynamic markings found in our songbooks:


p
P
F
f

piano-pianissimo or very very soft
pianissimo or very soft
piano or soft
mezzo piano of moderately soft
mezzo forte or moderately loud
forte or loud
fortissimo or very loud

forte-fortissimo or very very loud
cresc. crescendo or gradually increase in power (go towards louder)
Decresc. decrescendo or gradually decrease on power (go towards softer)
^ or > over a note means to accent the note
Basically, Music
(a class on music basics)
Class 4: Dynamics and Interpretation
Interpretation of a song, musically not literately, is a judgment made by the songleader of pitch, tempo,
navigation and volume. This can depend on who the songleader is, how the song was learned, where the song
is sung in a service. Examples of differences:
pitch – Shout to the Lord, I pitch this song with a pitchpipe to standard (A-440), another pitches this song
higher.
tempo – Consider Him, I sing this song at a moderate tempo but slower than how it was learned and another
leads it faster.
navigation – Shout to the Lord, we don’t sing this song the way it’s written, we repeat where there are no
repeats and we go to the coda past where the coda sign is. I will sometimes start this song in the middle.
volume – this is were there is a lot of interpretation, most of the songs don’t have dynamic markings but we’ll
lead a verse softer than the others or louder. We may sing the refrain louder that the verses. There are some
songs where a crescendo is used due to the structure of the song, example: The Name of God….