In this article, you will become familiar with the basic concepts of dynamics, learn the most popular notations and methods of dynamic work, as well as mistakes and problems that beginning musicians encounter.

What is dynamics in general?

If we turn to the etymology of the word dynamics, we learn that from the Greek. δύναμις - strength, power.

What kind of power are we talking about when applied to music?

Of course, about the strength of sound, one of the 4 parameters of musical sound in general. (All 4 sound parameters are considered)

The strength of the sound, in turn, affects the volume of the sound, since the harder we pull a string or hit a piano key, the stronger the amplitude of vibration of the sounding body and the greater its volume.

However, not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance. And sound volume itself means little to the performer.

It is important to be able to work with volume and, most importantly, to have a wide palette of dynamic colors that you can reproduce on your instrument.

By dynamic shades, musicians most often mean a relative system for indicating loudness, which can be found in musical notation.

The simplest diagram looks like this.

p (piano - piano) - quiet

f (forte - forte) - loud

The remaining notations are derived from them

pp - pianissimo - very quiet

mp - mezzo piano - not very quiet

mf mezzo forte not very loud

ff - very loud

As you can see, the scale is quite relative and sometimes it is almost impossible to distinguish mp from mf.

That is why these notations are called relative loudness notations. It is clear that forte on a guitar and forte on a piano are completely different volumes. Comparative table of volume in decibels without reference to the instrument.

fff	Forte fortissimo - the loudest	100 background	88 dream
ff	Fortissimo - very loud	90 background	38 dream
f	Forte - loud	80 background	17.1 sleep
p	Piano - quiet	50 background	2.2 sleep
pp	Pianissimo - very quiet	40 background	0.98 sleep
ppp	Piano-pianissimo - the quietest	30 background	0.36 sleep

The first stage of mastering dynamics on your instrument is to learn to play forte and piano, without smooth transitions.

Then you can try playing pp first, then ff immediately. Contact a professional teacher for effective exercises to master dynamics.

One of the most common mistakes among beginning musicians is not working on dynamics. Everything they play sounds neither very quiet nor very loud. This approach impoverishes music and its expressiveness and, of course, should be eradicated at the very first stages of training.

You need to learn to play in all possible dynamic ranges.

The next important element of dynamics in music is gradation, that is, the transition from one level of dynamics to another.

Essentially, any musical phrase is based on the use of a smooth change in dynamics and very rarely all notes are played at the same volume. To indicate obvious changes in dynamics, the notation is used

cresc. And dim. or strengthening and weakening

Notes also use forks to indicate an increase or decrease in volume:

Sudden changes in volume

sf or sfz - suddenly loud or harsh accent

There is also the designation fp (forte piano) it means “loudly, then immediately quietly”;

sfp (sforzando piano) indicates sforzando followed by piano.

Also in musical notation there are accents that are placed above a separate note, which indicates their dynamic emphasis in comparison with surrounding sounds. The strength of the accent can vary from a subtle change to a very sharp attack. The picture shows accents 3 and 4.

In jazz you can often find de-emphasis or ghost notes. These are notes that are written in brackets and are practically not played or played at minimal dynamics.

Such sounds allow you to maintain pulsation and are an important sign of style.

It is important to note that dynamics are responsible for the emotionality of music, and also significantly influence phrasing, since agogics is almost always based on correct work with dynamics.

Observe your speech and the speech of other people and try to mentally record their dynamics. You will hear that the speech of any person changes dynamically depending on emotions. We pronounce routine phrases mf, when we are excited we can speak loudly, with a crescendo to important words. When an argument is in full swing, the participants may be on ff, and then calm down towards the end of the argument.

Whisper is pp or even ppp, which is very often associated with secrets or secrets that we want to tell other people. All you need to master dynamics is to transfer the dynamics of live speech into your game.

Listen to other musicians, paying attention to the dynamics - because this is where most of the secrets of successful performance are hidden.

One of the popular techniques working with dynamics is an echo effect in which a phrase is repeated more quietly or, conversely, louder. Modern musicians apply this technique to hitting the snare drum or leading the theme. This contrast in dynamics is also very characteristic of the music of the Baroque era.

In those days, gradient transitions were not as popular as they are today - so the main technique for working on dynamics is to compare quiet parts with loud ones and vice versa.

Delving deeper into the nature of sound dynamics, let's return to the beginning of the article.

2 simple gradations of sound are quiet and loud.

But if we take extremes, we can talk about complete silence (a pause is also music) and maximum volume.

This is an area that requires careful study on the instrument. Try to find the quietest sound you can make.

When does the transition from silence to sound occur? This process can be similar to meditation.

Or the loudest sound - can you make the loudest forte even louder?

Just as artists distinguish dozens of shades of colors, musicians learn to distinguish the subtlest shades of dynamics.

At the beginning of the journey, you only hear loud and quiet. Then you begin to catch the transitions and shades of forte, piano, accents, ghost notes.

Ideally, the sound flow will be perceived by you as endless waves of sound dynamics moving from forte to piano and vice versa.

As you can see, dynamics are a simple and at the same time the most difficult part of music to master. It's easy to understand the types musical dynamics and its transitions, but it is much more difficult to learn to hear and perform these transitions.

Use the ideas presented in this article, and also carefully read the instructions of the composers, because their task is to indicate to you as accurately and unambiguously as possible all the dynamic changes that need to be observed to create the most accurate interpretation.

For musicians performing rock, jazz and any other modern music, it is important to learn to hear dynamics, since they are not written out in notes, but are invariably present in any composition, since music is impossible without dynamics!

EXPRESSIVE MEANS OF MUSIC

Dynamics

“It is possible to convey a hundred dynamic gradations, placed between the limits,
which I call: more no sound and already not sound."
G. Neuhaus

You have, of course, heard of an explosive called dynamite. Do you know the Dynamo sports team? Where else can you find this root? Well, of course, in tape amplifiers - “speakers”. In all these examples we are talking about force: δύναμις [dynamic] is translated from Greek as “power”. But the last example is closest to us, because it deals specifically with the power of sound. We regulate the sound strength not only using the volume lever. This can be done directly on the piano keys by playing louder or softer, forte or piano. These shades (or nuances in French) are called dynamic shades, and the strength of the musical sound is called dynamics.

Dynamics - the strength of sound, dynamic shades (nuances) - shades of sound strength.

Musical dynamics again take us back to the origins of music. After all, loud and quiet sounds, like various shades, exist outside of musical works. The thunderstorm is thundering, and the drizzling rain rustles barely audibly; The sound of the sea surf is menacing, but the splash of the lake is gentle and not at all scary. The echo sounds differently, sometimes mimicking our voice almost nearby, sometimes fading away in the distance.

And even these are clean musical features, like crescendo (crescendo) - a gradual increase in sonority and diminuendo (diminuendo) - its gradual weakening, are also present in nature.

Listen to how the wind rustles in the treetops, first slightly touching the leaves, then becoming louder, stronger, capturing the entire crown at the moment of climax, causing it to sway, make noise, and only then gradually weakening its pressure until it completely calms down. This character of dynamics, which could be schematically depicted by the musical signs cresc., dim., is a universal law of any sound.

Or maybe its manifestation should be sought within broader boundaries - not only in music, not only in sounds in general, but in the diversity of all existing things? Isn’t this what F. Tyutchev wrote about in his poem “Wave and Thought”?

Thought after thought, wave after wave -
Two manifestations of one element:
Whether in a cramped heart, or in a boundless sea,
Here - in prison, there - in the open -
The same eternal surf and rebound,
The same ghost is still alarmingly empty.

If this “eternal ebb and flow” is that very universal law of life, then perhaps music has such an effect on a person because it most clearly carries its obvious embodiment? After all, any piece of music, even the smallest one, has its own rules for the distribution of dynamics, giving it expressiveness and meaningfulness. Moreover, this meaningfulness is the main difference between artistic dynamics and the sound dynamics of nature: in music it never appears as an “alarmingly empty ghost”, but, on the contrary, forms a deeply natural movement, participating in the creation of an artistic image along with other means of musical expressiveness .

Remember the introduction to M. Mussorgsky’s opera “Khovanshchina” - “Dawn on the Moscow River”. The music of this unusually expressive fragment conveys the leisurely approach of the Moscow morning. The monophonic, quiet melody that opens the introduction is like the first ray of light, which increasingly advances, grows, and is colored with radiance. rising sun, suddenly flashing and playing on the golden domes of Moscow churches.

Listening to this fragment, you are once again convinced of how great, how truly limitless are the possibilities of music in conveying not only any movement, process, but also its subtlest shades and gradations. Not just the general line of gradual dynamic growth, but the smallest details, details - all this gives the music such authenticity, a sense of authenticity.

This is the same realism in music that B. Pasternak wrote about: “Everywhere, in any art, realism is, apparently, not a separate direction, but constitutes a special degree of art, highest degree author's precision." Such precision is characteristic of the work of every great musician, who is equally conscientious in the construction of a large composition and in the finishing of every detail. The scene of a summer thunderstorm from the IV movement of Symphony No. 6 by L. Beethoven is extremely expressive! Listen to how dynamics manifest themselves in this composition along with orchestration and harmonic colors.

The thunderstorm begins gradually. The music very clearly and vividly depicts its onset: the sky frowns, the wind picks up (timpani tremolo), the first drops of rain appear (pizzicato strings). All this occurs along with an intensification of the dynamics leading to highest point rampant natural disasters. A thunderstorm literally falls: thunderclaps, lightning flashes are heard in the music, and minor colors visibly and tangibly thicken. The gradual subsidence of the storm is accompanied by a gradual calm in the orchestra; the thunderstorm is moving away - and only distant rumbles of thunder can still be heard in the music. However, they soon disappear: the clouds dissipate (the minor gives way to the major), the music brightens.

Dynamics is one of the most striking expressive means of music. One can even say that this is the most important carrier of musicality in general, no matter what it manifests itself in: in poetry, in prose, in the intonations of human speech. After all, any poem has its own indicators of dynamics, allowing us to hear whether it sounds “quiet” or “loud”; and when describing human characters, the writer certainly indicates how this or that hero speaks, what kind of voice he has; and in our everyday observations we often guess a person by the peculiarities of the sound of his speech. And it often turns out that quiet but weighty words convince us much more than noisy verbosity.

Musicians have long explored the artistic possibilities of volume dynamics. Even in the Renaissance, various effects were created by dynamic means - for example, the echo effect in O. Lasso’s chorus “Echo”. It was noticed that the comparison of volumes when playing the same melody sounds like an echo, giving the music a special spatiality. It is also known that a quiet, measured melody lulls, and a loud and solemn melody invigorates, therefore all the lullabies of the world are sung quietly, and all marching marches, on the contrary, are very sonorous.

However, between these extreme manifestations of dynamics there are, as G. Neuhaus accurately noted, many intermediate shades. Not only composers, but also performers are well aware that the reproduction of the author's intention depends to a great extent on the accuracy of observing dynamic shades. G. Neuhaus, an outstanding pianist and teacher, repeated to his students: “Maria Pavlovna (mp) must not be confused with Maria Fedorovna (mf), Petya (r) with Pyotr Petrovich (rr), Fedya (f) with Fedor Fedorovich (ff).” . These words tell us not only about the vivid perception of dynamic shades, but also about the exactingness of a wonderful master in observing the smallest nuances of volume.

Dynamic shades:
pp – pianissimo- extremely quiet performance.
R - piano- quiet.
mp - mezzo piano- moderately quiet.
mf – mezzo forte- moderately loud.
f – forte- loud.
ff – fortissimo- extremely loud.

Of course, like any other means of expression, dynamics are extremely rarely used in any one sound. In the entire history of music you will not find a piece that is equally loud or equally quiet from beginning to end. The movement of dynamics is influenced not only by the natural laws of volume distribution, but also by many other circumstances.

Try, for example, to sing any melody at the same volume - and you will immediately be convinced that your performance is unmusical. The melody itself is flexible and changeable; when it moves up, you want to sing it a little louder, when it ends, it requires lowering the sound. Moreover, it can sound entirely within any one shade - for example, mf; thus, increasingly subtle gradations of loudness will occur within the boundaries of this designation.

That is why the expressiveness of music is based on dynamic variability. A gradual increase in climax - decline, for example, in the fragment from Symphony No. 6 by L. Beethoven that we examined - one of possible options speakers; a contrasting juxtaposition of sonorities, as in O. Lasso’s choir “Echo,” is another version of it.

Dynamics has always been an ally of musical programming. After all, turning to a specific program concept, the composer took on a special responsibility: to express in sounds the content that is hidden behind the title of the work. That is why in program music there is such a high artistic role all its aspects - rhythm, harmony, texture and, of course, dynamics.

The play " Moonlight"from the Bergamasque Suite by C. Debussy, like most of the works of this most poetic composer, is distinguished by the smallest detail of musical writing. A captivating moonlit night, full of magical charm, mysterious and enigmatic - this is the image of this music, which, as always, is much higher and richer than the words that can be said about it.

The moon was sad. With bows in oblivion
Led by angels. From a trembling chest
Viola, in the silence of flowers, a flammable cry was born
Either white, like fog, or blue harmonies.

These lines are from the poem “The Phenomenon” by S. Mallarmé. They can be attributed to the music of C. Debussy - a bright and consistent exponent of the elusive wonders of nature. Colors, sounds, aromas, sounding light - this flicker is conveyed in his music as if on the edge of its imaginable possibilities. Everything that music says about itself is refined to the limit, detailed - both in the shimmer of harmonic coloring, and in the delicate detail of the rhythm, and in the finest dynamic nuances. Listening to “Moonlight”, you experience the impression of the full visibility of the moonlight, every branch, every dark twig against its background, every barely perceptible rustle.

No less expressive are examples of sound visualization of dynamics.

Have you ever heard how the morning forest wakes up, how it is gradually filled with various sounds, rustles, and birdsong? But the singing of birds has long attracted musicians. For many of them, this became a kind of school of composing skills. The special timbres inherent in each bird, the nature of the chirping, tempo, strokes and, finally, the volume that is characteristic of its singing - all this taught the accuracy, detail, expressiveness of musical characteristics. O. Messiaen's orchestral work “The Awakening of the Birds” is one of the results of such a “forest school”, which very accurately conveys the various sounds of a summer forest filled with the voices of birds. In the musical fragment given below, you can hear the singing of the whirligig, the little owl, the wood lark, the warbler, the blackbird and other birds, gradually awakening and greeting the dawn with their singing. The music of “Waking the Birds” opens up new possibilities for sound imaging – not only rhythmic and timbre, but also dynamic.

"Dynamics" translated means "strength". This force, implying the loudness of the sound, can be understood more broadly - as a force that affects a person along with other musical “forces”. It contains a huge world of imaginative possibilities: the world of sound diversity, the world of expressive musical movement, inner life piece of music, every moment of which is never emotionally neutral, indifferent. Every moment of music is always unique, and therefore the power of every musical sound is unique.

Questions and tasks:
1. What dynamic shades would you use to convey the various sounds of nature: the sound of rain, the roar of thunder, the rustling of leaves, the roar of the sea (continue this series yourself)?
2. Do you think there are dynamic shades in silent phenomena or objects? What do you associate them with (what qualities, with what shades)?
3. In the Diary, identify the “loud” and “quiet” poems.
4. What is the role of nuances in the dynamics of a piece of music? Try to connect your answer with the words of G. Neuhaus, included in the epigraph to this section.
5. Among the means of musical expression, name those that can be found not only in music, but also in the surrounding world; which belong only to music.

Presentation

Included:
1. Presentation - 16 slides, ppsx;
2. Sounds of music:
Debussy. “Moonlight” from the Bergamasco Suite, mp3;
Beethoven. Symphony No. 6 in F major, op.68 - IV. Allegro, mp3;
Lasso. "Echo", mp3;
Messiaen. "Waking the Birds", mp3;
Mussorgsky. “Dawn on the Moscow River” from the opera “Khovanshchina”, mp3;
3. Accompanying article, docx.

February 18, 2016

The world of home entertainment is quite varied and can include: watching movies on a good home theater system; exciting and exciting gameplay or listening to music. As a rule, everyone finds something of their own in this area, or combines everything at once. But whatever a person’s goals for organizing his leisure time and whatever extreme they go to, all these links are firmly connected by one simple and understandable word - “sound”. Indeed, in all of the above cases, we will be led by the hand by sound. But this question is not so simple and trivial, especially in cases where there is a desire to achieve high-quality sound in a room or any other conditions. To do this, it is not always necessary to buy expensive hi-fi or hi-end components (although it will be very useful), but good knowledge is sufficient physical theory, which can eliminate most of the problems that arise for everyone who sets out to obtain high-quality voice acting.

Next, the theory of sound and acoustics will be considered from the point of view of physics. IN in this case I will try to make this as accessible as possible to the understanding of any person who, perhaps, is far from knowing physical laws or formulas, but nevertheless passionately dreams of realizing the dream of creating a perfect acoustic system. I do not presume to say that in order to achieve good results in this area at home (or in a car, for example), you need to know these theories thoroughly, but understanding the basics will allow you to avoid many stupid and absurd mistakes, and will also allow you to achieve the maximum sound effect from the system any level.

General theory of sound and musical terminology

What is it sound? This is the sensation that the auditory organ perceives "ear"(the phenomenon itself exists without the participation of the “ear” in the process, but this is easier to understand), which occurs when the eardrum is excited by a sound wave. The ear in this case acts as a “receiver” of sound waves of various frequencies.
Sound wave it is essentially a sequential series of compactions and discharges of the medium (most often the air medium under normal conditions) of various frequencies. The nature of sound waves is oscillatory, caused and produced by the vibration of any body. The emergence and propagation of a classical sound wave is possible in three elastic media: gaseous, liquid and solid. When a sound wave occurs in one of these types of space, some changes inevitably occur in the medium itself, for example, a change in air density or pressure, movement of air mass particles, etc.

Since a sound wave has an oscillatory nature, it has such a characteristic as frequency. Frequency measured in hertz (in honor of the German physicist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz), and denotes the number of oscillations over a period of time equal to one second. Those. for example, a frequency of 20 Hz indicates a cycle of 20 oscillations in one second. The subjective concept of its height also depends on the frequency of the sound. The more sound vibrations occur per second, the “higher” the sound appears. A sound wave also has another important characteristic, which has a name - wavelength. Wavelength It is customary to consider the distance that a sound of a certain frequency travels in a period equal to one second. For example, the wavelength of the lowest sound in the human audible range at 20 Hz is 16.5 meters, and the wavelength of the highest sound at 20,000 Hz is 1.7 centimeters.

The human ear is designed in such a way that it is capable of perceiving waves only in a limited range, approximately 20 Hz - 20,000 Hz (depending on the characteristics of a particular person, some are able to hear a little more, some less). Thus, this does not mean that sounds below or above these frequencies do not exist, but they are simply not perceived by the human ear, going beyond the audible range. Sound above the audible range is called ultrasound, sound below the audible range is called infrasound. Some animals are able to perceive ultra and infra sounds, some even use this range for orientation in space (bats, dolphins). If sound passes through a medium that is not in direct contact with the human hearing organ, then such sound may not be heard or may be greatly weakened subsequently.

In the musical terminology of sound, there are such important designations as octave, tone and overtone of sound. Octave means an interval in which the frequency ratio between sounds is 1 to 2. An octave is usually very distinguishable by ear, while sounds within this interval can be very similar to each other. An octave can also be called a sound that vibrates twice as much as another sound in the same period of time. For example, the frequency of 800 Hz is nothing more than a higher octave of 400 Hz, and the frequency of 400 Hz in turn is the next octave of sound with a frequency of 200 Hz. The octave, in turn, consists of tones and overtones. Variable vibrations in a harmonic sound wave of the same frequency are perceived by the human ear as musical tone. High-frequency vibrations can be interpreted as high-pitched sounds, while low-frequency vibrations can be interpreted as low-pitched sounds. The human ear is capable of clearly distinguishing sounds with a difference of one tone (in the range of up to 4000 Hz). Despite this, music uses an extremely small number of tones. This is explained from considerations of the principle of harmonic consonance; everything is based on the principle of octaves.

Let's consider the theory of musical tones using the example of a string stretched in a certain way. Such a string, depending on the tension force, will be “tuned” to one specific frequency. When this string is exposed to something with one specific force, which causes it to vibrate, one specific tone of sound will be consistently observed, and we will hear the desired tuning frequency. This sound is called the fundamental tone. The frequency of the note “A” of the first octave is officially accepted as the fundamental tone in the musical field, equal to 440 Hz. However, most musical instruments never reproduce pure fundamental tones alone; they are inevitably accompanied by overtones called overtones. Here it is appropriate to recall an important definition of musical acoustics, the concept of sound timbre. Timbre- this is a feature musical sounds, which give musical instruments and voices their unique, recognizable specificity of sound, even when comparing sounds of the same pitch and volume. The timbre of each musical instrument depends on the distribution of sound energy among overtones at the moment the sound appears.

Overtones form a specific coloring of the fundamental tone, by which we can easily identify and recognize a specific instrument, as well as clearly distinguish its sound from another instrument. There are two types of overtones: harmonic and non-harmonic. Harmonic overtones by definition are multiples of the fundamental frequency. On the contrary, if the overtones are not multiples and noticeably deviate from the values, then they are called non-harmonic. In music, operating with multiple overtones is practically excluded, so the term is reduced to the concept of “overtone,” meaning harmonic. For some instruments, such as the piano, the fundamental tone does not even have time to form; in a short period of time, the sound energy of the overtones increases, and then just as rapidly decreases. Many instruments create what is called a "transition tone" effect, where the energy of certain overtones is highest at a certain point in time, usually at the very beginning, but then changes abruptly and moves on to other overtones. The frequency range of each instrument can be considered separately and is usually limited to the fundamental frequencies that that particular instrument is capable of producing.

In sound theory there is also such a concept as NOISE. Noise- this is any sound that is created by a combination of sources that are inconsistent with each other. Everyone is familiar with the sound of tree leaves swaying by the wind, etc.

What determines the volume of sound? Obviously, such a phenomenon directly depends on the amount of energy transferred by the sound wave. To determine quantitative indicators of loudness, there is a concept - sound intensity. Sound intensity is defined as the flow of energy passing through some area of ​​space (for example, cm2) per unit of time (for example, per second). During normal conversation, the intensity is approximately 9 or 10 W/cm2. The human ear is capable of perceiving sounds over a fairly wide range of sensitivity, while the sensitivity of frequencies is heterogeneous within the sound spectrum. So the best way The perceived frequency range is 1000 Hz - 4000 Hz, which most widely covers human speech.

Because sounds vary so greatly in intensity, it is more convenient to think of it as a logarithmic quantity and measure it in decibels (after the Scottish scientist Alexander Graham Bell). The lower threshold of hearing sensitivity of the human ear is 0 dB, the upper is 120 dB, also called the “pain threshold”. The upper limit of sensitivity is also perceived by the human ear not in the same way, but depends on the specific frequency. Low-frequency sounds must be much more intense than high-frequency sounds to trigger the pain threshold. For example, the pain threshold at a low frequency of 31.5 Hz occurs at a sound intensity level of 135 dB, when at a frequency of 2000 Hz the sensation of pain will appear at 112 dB. There is also the concept of sound pressure, which actually expands the usual explanation of the propagation of a sound wave in the air. Sound pressure- this is a variable excess pressure that arises in an elastic medium as a result of the passage of a sound wave through it.

Wave nature of sound

To better understand the system of sound wave generation, imagine a classic speaker located in a pipe filled with air. If the speaker makes a sharp movement forward, the air in the immediate vicinity of the diffuser is momentarily compressed. The air will then expand, thereby pushing the compressed air region along the pipe.
This wave movement will subsequently become sound when it reaches the auditory organ and “excites” the eardrum. When a sound wave occurs in a gas, excess pressure and excess density are created and particles move at a constant speed. About sound waves, it is important to remember the fact that the substance does not move along with the sound wave, but only a temporary disturbance of the air masses occurs.

If we imagine a piston suspended in free space on a spring and making repeated movements “back and forth”, then such oscillations will be called harmonic or sinusoidal (if we imagine the wave as a graph, then in this case we will get a pure sinusoid with repeated declines and rises). If we imagine a speaker in a pipe (as in the example described above) performing harmonic oscillations, then at the moment the speaker moves “forward” the well-known effect of air compression is obtained, and when the speaker moves “backwards” the opposite effect of rarefaction occurs. In this case, a wave of alternating compression and rarefaction will propagate through the pipe. The distance along the pipe between adjacent maxima or minima (phases) will be called wavelength. If the particles oscillate parallel to the direction of propagation of the wave, then the wave is called longitudinal. If they oscillate perpendicular to the direction of propagation, then the wave is called transverse. Typically, sound waves in gases and liquids are longitudinal, but in solids waves of both types can occur. Transverse waves in solids arise due to resistance to change in shape. The main difference between these two types of waves is that a transverse wave has the property of polarization (oscillations occur in a certain plane), while a longitudinal wave does not.

Sound speed

The speed of sound directly depends on the characteristics of the medium in which it propagates. It is determined (dependent) by two properties of the medium: elasticity and density of the material. The speed of sound in solids directly depends on the type of material and its properties. Velocity in gaseous media depends on only one type of medium deformation: compression-rarefaction. The change in pressure in a sound wave occurs without heat exchange with surrounding particles and is called adiabatic.
The speed of sound in a gas depends mainly on temperature - it increases with increasing temperature and decreases with decreasing temperature. Also, the speed of sound in a gaseous medium depends on the size and mass of the gas molecules themselves - the smaller the mass and size of the particles, the greater the “conductivity” of the wave and, accordingly, the greater the speed.

In liquid and solid media, the principle of propagation and the speed of sound are similar to how a wave propagates in air: by compression-discharge. But in these environments, in addition to the same dependence on temperature, the density of the medium and its composition/structure are quite important. The lower the density of the substance, the higher the speed of sound and vice versa. The dependence on the composition of the medium is more complex and is determined in each specific case, taking into account the location and interaction of molecules/atoms.

Speed ​​of sound in air at t, °C 20: 343 m/s
Speed ​​of sound in distilled water at t, °C 20: 1481 m/s
Speed ​​of sound in steel at t, °C 20: 5000 m/s

Standing waves and interference

When a speaker creates sound waves in a confined space, the effect of reflection of the waves from the boundaries inevitably occurs. As a result, this most often occurs interference effect- when two or more sound waves overlap each other. Special cases of interference phenomena are the formation of: 1) Beating waves or 2) Standing waves. Wave beats- this is the case when the addition of waves with similar frequencies and amplitudes occurs. The picture of the occurrence of beats: when two waves of similar frequencies are superimposed on each other. At some point in time, with such an overlap, the amplitude peaks may coincide “in phase,” and the declines may also coincide in “antiphase.” This is how sound beats are characterized. It is important to remember that, unlike standing waves, phase coincidences of peaks do not occur constantly, but at certain time intervals. To the ear, this pattern of beats is distinguished quite clearly, and is heard as a periodic increase and decrease in volume, respectively. The mechanism by which this effect occurs is extremely simple: when the peaks coincide, the volume increases, and when the valleys coincide, the volume decreases.

Standing waves arise in the case of superposition of two waves of the same amplitude, phase and frequency, when when such waves “meet” one moves in the forward direction and the other in the opposite direction. In the area of ​​space (where the standing wave was formed), a picture of the superposition of two frequency amplitudes appears, with alternating maxima (the so-called antinodes) and minima (the so-called nodes). When this phenomenon occurs, the frequency, phase and attenuation coefficient of the wave at the place of reflection are extremely important. Unlike traveling waves, there is no energy transfer in a standing wave due to the fact that the forward and backward waves that form this wave transfer energy in equal quantities in both the forward and opposite directions. To clearly understand the occurrence of a standing wave, let’s imagine an example from home acoustics. Let's say we have floor-standing speakers in some limited space (room). Having them play some composition with a lot of bass, let's try to change the location of the listener in the room. Thus, a listener who finds himself in the zone of minimum (subtraction) of a standing wave will feel the effect that there is very little bass, and if the listener finds himself in a zone of maximum (addition) of frequencies, then the opposite effect of a significant increase in the bass region is obtained. In this case, the effect is observed in all octaves of the base frequency. For example, if the base frequency is 440 Hz, then the phenomenon of “addition” or “subtraction” will also be observed at frequencies of 880 Hz, 1760 Hz, 3520 Hz, etc.

Resonance phenomenon

Most solids have a natural resonance frequency. It is quite easy to understand this effect using the example of an ordinary pipe, open at only one end. Let's imagine a situation where a speaker is connected to the other end of the pipe, which can play one constant frequency, which can also be changed later. So, the pipe has its own resonance frequency, in simple terms - this is the frequency at which the pipe “resonates” or makes its own sound. If the frequency of the speaker (as a result of adjustment) coincides with the resonance frequency of the pipe, then the effect of increasing the volume several times will occur. This happens because the loudspeaker excites vibrations of the air column in the pipe with a significant amplitude until the same “resonant frequency” is found and the addition effect occurs. The resulting phenomenon can be described as follows: the pipe in this example “helps” the speaker by resonating at a specific frequency, their efforts add up and “result” in an audible loud effect. Using the example of musical instruments, this phenomenon can be easily seen, since the design of most instruments contains elements called resonators. It is not difficult to guess what serves the purpose of enhancing a certain frequency or musical tone. For example: a guitar body with a resonator in the form of a hole mating with the volume; The design of the flute tube (and all pipes in general); The cylindrical shape of the drum body, which itself is a resonator of a certain frequency.

Frequency spectrum of sound and frequency response

Since in practice there are practically no waves of the same frequency, it becomes necessary to decompose the entire sound spectrum of the audible range into overtones or harmonics. For these purposes, there are graphs that display the dependence of the relative energy of sound vibrations on frequency. This graph is called a sound frequency spectrum graph. Frequency spectrum of sound There are two types: discrete and continuous. A discrete spectrum plot displays individual frequencies separated by blank spaces. The continuous spectrum contains all sound frequencies at once.
In the case of music or acoustics, the usual graph is most often used Amplitude-Frequency Characteristics(abbreviated as "AFC"). This graph shows the dependence of the amplitude of sound vibrations on frequency throughout the entire frequency spectrum (20 Hz - 20 kHz). Looking at such a graph it is easy to understand, for example, strong or weak sides a specific speaker or an acoustic system as a whole, the strongest areas of energy output, frequency drops and rises, attenuation, and also trace the steepness of the decline.

Propagation of sound waves, phase and antiphase

The process of propagation of sound waves occurs in all directions from the source. The simplest example to understand this phenomenon: a pebble thrown into water.
From the place where the stone fell, waves begin to spread across the surface of the water in all directions. However, let’s imagine a situation using a speaker in a certain volume, say a closed box, which is connected to an amplifier and plays some kind of musical signal. It is easy to notice (especially if you apply a powerful low-frequency signal, for example a bass drum) that the speaker makes a rapid movement “forward”, and then the same rapid movement “backward”. What remains to be understood is that when the speaker moves forward, it emits a sound wave that we hear later. But what happens when the speaker moves backward? And paradoxically, the same thing happens, the speaker makes the same sound, only in our example it propagates entirely within the volume of the box, without going beyond its limits (the box is closed). In general, in the above example one can observe quite a lot of interesting physical phenomena, the most significant of which is the concept of phase.

The sound wave that the speaker, being in the volume, emits in the direction of the listener is “in phase”. The reverse wave, which goes into the volume of the box, will be correspondingly antiphase. It remains only to understand what these concepts mean? Signal phase is the sound pressure level in this moment time at some point in space. The easiest way to understand phase is through playback example musical material an ordinary floor-standing stereo pair of home speaker systems. Let's imagine that two such floor-standing speakers are installed in a certain room and play. In this case, both acoustic systems reproduce a synchronous signal of variable sound pressure, and the sound pressure of one speaker is added to the sound pressure of the other speaker. A similar effect occurs due to the synchronicity of signal reproduction from the left and right speakers, respectively, in other words, the peaks and troughs of the waves emitted by the left and right speakers coincide.

Now let’s imagine that the sound pressures still change in the same way (have not undergone changes), but only now they are opposite to each other. This can happen if you connect one speaker system out of two in reverse polarity ("+" cable from the amplifier to the "-" terminal of the speaker system, and "-" cable from the amplifier to the "+" terminal of the speaker system). In this case, the opposite signal will cause a pressure difference, which can be represented in numbers as follows: the left speaker will create a pressure of “1 Pa”, and the right speaker will create a pressure of “minus 1 Pa”. As a result, the total sound volume at the listener's location will be zero. This phenomenon is called antiphase. If we look at the example in more detail for understanding, it turns out that two speakers playing “in phase” create identical areas of air compaction and rarefaction, thereby actually helping each other. In the case of an idealized antiphase, the area of ​​compressed air space created by one speaker will be accompanied by an area of ​​rarefied air space created by the second speaker. This looks approximately like the phenomenon of mutual synchronous cancellation of waves. True, in practice the volume does not drop to zero, and we will hear a highly distorted and weakened sound.

The most accessible way to describe this phenomenon is as follows: two signals with the same oscillations (frequency), but shifted in time. In view of this, it is more convenient to imagine these displacement phenomena using the example of an ordinary round clock. Let's imagine that there are several identical round clocks hanging on the wall. When the second hands of this watch run synchronously, on one watch 30 seconds and on the other 30, then this is an example of a signal that is in phase. If the second hands move with a shift, but the speed is still the same, for example, on one watch it is 30 seconds, and on another it is 24 seconds, then this is a classic example of a phase shift. In the same way, phase is measured in degrees, within a virtual circle. In this case, when the signals are shifted relative to each other by 180 degrees (half a period), classical antiphase is obtained. Often in practice, minor phase shifts occur, which can also be determined in degrees and successfully eliminated.

Waves are plane and spherical. A plane wave front propagates in only one direction and is rarely encountered in practice. A spherical wavefront is a simple type of wave that originates from a single point and travels in all directions. Sound waves have the property diffraction, i.e. ability to go around obstacles and objects. The degree of bending depends on the ratio of the sound wavelength to the size of the obstacle or hole. Diffraction also occurs when there is some obstacle in the path of sound. In this case, two scenarios are possible: 1) If the size of the obstacle is much larger than the wavelength, then the sound is reflected or absorbed (depending on the degree of absorption of the material, the thickness of the obstacle, etc.), and an “acoustic shadow” zone is formed behind the obstacle. . 2) If the size of the obstacle is comparable to the wavelength or even less than it, then the sound diffracts to some extent in all directions. If a sound wave, while moving in one medium, hits the interface with another medium (for example, an air medium with a solid medium), then three scenarios can occur: 1) the wave will be reflected from the interface 2) the wave can pass into another medium without changing direction 3) a wave can pass into another medium with a change in direction at the boundary, this is called “wave refraction”.

The ratio of the excess pressure of a sound wave to the oscillatory volumetric velocity is called wave resistance. Speaking in simple words, wave impedance of the medium can be called the ability to absorb sound waves or “resist” them. The reflection and transmission coefficients directly depend on the ratio of the wave impedances of the two media. Wave resistance in a gaseous medium is much lower than in water or solids. Therefore, if a sound wave in air strikes a solid object or the surface of deep water, the sound is either reflected from the surface or absorbed to a large extent. This depends on the thickness of the surface (water or solid) on which the desired sound wave falls. When the thickness of a solid or liquid medium is low, sound waves almost completely “pass”, and vice versa, when the thickness of the medium is large, the waves are more often reflected. In the case of reflection of sound waves, this process occurs according to the well-known physical law: "The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection." In this case, when a wave from a medium with a lower density hits the boundary with a medium of higher density, the phenomenon occurs refraction. It consists in the bending (refraction) of a sound wave after “meeting” an obstacle, and is necessarily accompanied by a change in speed. Refraction also depends on the temperature of the medium in which reflection occurs.

In the process of propagation of sound waves in space, their intensity inevitably decreases; we can say that the waves attenuate and the sound weakens. In practice, encountering a similar effect is quite simple: for example, if two people stand in a field at some close distance (a meter or closer) and start saying something to each other. If you subsequently increase the distance between people (if they begin to move away from each other), the same level of conversational volume will become less and less audible. This example clearly demonstrates the phenomenon of a decrease in the intensity of sound waves. Why is this happening? The reason for this is various processes of heat exchange, molecular interaction and internal friction of sound waves. Most often in practice, sound energy is converted into thermal energy. Such processes inevitably arise in any of the 3 sound propagation media and can be characterized as absorption of sound waves.

The intensity and degree of absorption of sound waves depends on many factors, such as pressure and temperature of the medium. Absorption also depends on the specific sound frequency. When a sound wave propagates through liquids or gases, a friction effect occurs between different particles, which is called viscosity. As a result of this friction at the molecular level, the process of converting a wave from sound to heat occurs. In other words, the higher the thermal conductivity of the medium, the lower the degree of wave absorption. Sound absorption in gaseous media also depends on pressure (atmospheric pressure changes with increasing altitude relative to sea level). As for the dependence of the degree of absorption on the frequency of sound, taking into account the above-mentioned dependences of viscosity and thermal conductivity, the higher the frequency of sound, the higher the absorption of sound. For example, at normal temperature and pressure in air, the absorption of a wave with a frequency of 5000 Hz is 3 dB/km, and the absorption of a wave with a frequency of 50,000 Hz will be 300 dB/m.

In solid media, all the above dependencies (thermal conductivity and viscosity) are preserved, but several more conditions are added to this. They are associated with the molecular structure of solid materials, which can be different, with its own inhomogeneities. Depending on this internal solid molecular structure, the absorption of sound waves in this case can be different, and depends on the type of specific material. When sound passes through a solid body, the wave undergoes a number of transformations and distortions, which most often leads to the dispersion and absorption of sound energy. At the molecular level, a dislocation effect can occur when a sound wave causes a displacement of atomic planes, which then return to their original position. Or, the movement of dislocations leads to a collision with dislocations perpendicular to them or defects in the crystal structure, which causes their inhibition and, as a consequence, some absorption of the sound wave. However, the sound wave can also resonate with these defects, which will lead to distortion of the original wave. The energy of the sound wave at the moment of interaction with the elements of the molecular structure of the material is dissipated as a result of internal friction processes.

In this article I will try to analyze the features of human auditory perception and some of the subtleties and features of sound propagation.

Lesson summary on the subject of musical literacy and listening to music on the topic “Dynamic shades, their role and meaning in music.” “King” ballroom dancing(history of the emergence and spread of the waltz)"

Author: Atamanova Lyudmila Ivanovna, teacher of the Municipal Budgetary Educational Institution of Preschool Children's Art School, Usman, Lipetsk region.
Short description: I offer you a lesson summary on the subject of musical literacy and listening to music for 1st grade. This material will be useful for preschool children's school teachers working in the department of general aesthetic education. The proposed lesson development uses a student-centered approach. This work contains a presentation for clarity of the material being studied. The lesson is aimed at developing musical abilities in students, expanding knowledge in the field of analyzing a musical work, and nurturing musical culture.

Target: Introduce students to the concept of “dynamics”, help them understand the designation, the role of dynamic shades in music, and also talk about the emergence and spread of the waltz, its place in the rich and diverse world of music, involving children in active participation in the lesson.
Tasks:
1. Educational: to cultivate a sense of care and respect for cultural heritage, to accept dance as part of the spiritual and national culture.
2. Developmental: develop musical abilities: hearing, speech, memory, include creative imagination in the lesson, be as active as possible.
3. Educational: to develop the ability to remember, navigate dynamic shades, and apply them in practice. Recognize waltz among other musical genres.
Equipment: musical instrument, musical instrument, literary and educational material, technical means.

During the classes

(Slide)
Teacher: Guys, in our very first lesson we were introduced to the concept of “sound”. What is this?
Students: Sound is the result of vibrations of an elastic body (for example, a string, a column of air). Sounds are divided into musical and noise.
Teacher: And by their nature, sounds can be quiet and loud, and no one will ever confuse them. There are two boxes in front of you. (Slide)
Teacher: Guess what sounds are hidden in them? First, write the missing letters in the boxes horizontally, then indicate in the frames what sounds they are: loud or quiet.

Teacher: And yet the concept of “loud” or “quiet” is very relative. For example, when you are in a good mood, you turn on the record player at full volume, but that day your neighbor Bad mood, so he is indignant. The sound seems too loud for him. We perceive the same sound differently. But it may not sound the same. For example, sounds that are quiet for a trumpet are too loud for, say, a harp or guitar. Let's knock on the table: quietly, a little louder, even louder, loudly, very loudly! Please note: the louder we knock, the more force we have to apply. (Slide)
Teacher: The sound strength is called volume and is a very important property of musical sounds.
Write the definition in your notebook.
Music can be loud or quiet, and can change abruptly or smoothly from one volume to another. (Slide)
Teacher: Changing the volume of sounds in music is called dynamics.
Write the definition in your notebook
Dynamics (the Greek word dinamikos means “power”) is the strength of sound. Music, like human speech, is filled with many sound shades. The more such shades, the more expressive it is. These sound tones are called dynamic. You never speak only loudly or only quietly. The power of sound depends on what and how you want to say. To speak, sing or play with force means with feeling, with great spiritual uplift. If you hit the keys hard, you get...
Students: Loud!
Teacher: What if it’s weak?
Students: Quiet!
Teacher: Italian words forte (loud), piano (quiet). What instrument's name comes from these words?
Students: Piano.

Teacher: Remember these notations and write them down. (Slide)
Teacher: Now let's play. Solve the charade and fill in the cells. The answer is written on the board
To the two well-known notes we add a preposition,
You will get a long and loud beep.
SIREN)

Teacher: Use your voice to pretend to be a siren. Start quietly, gradually increase the volume - the siren is approaching, passing by, moving away... The closer, the louder, the farther, the quieter. (Slide) Let's write down the definitions:
(crescendo) crescendo - gradually strengthening, (diminuendo) diminuendo - gradually weakening.

Homework

draw dynamic forks for these notations:
P_________f ; f_________p
Teacher: Today we got acquainted only with the main dynamic shades, but if you look at the dynamic forks, you can see that in different points these forks the sound will change. We will talk about this in the next lesson, but now listen to music and you will probably pay attention to the dynamic shades that will sound in it, as one of the most important means of musical expressiveness. But before the music starts, I have to talk about it. You, of course, have been convinced many times that music is closely connected with all the arts: literature, theater, cinema, and even the fine arts: painting, architecture, sculpture. But all these arts exist without music, having completely independent meaning. But there is a field of art that does not exist without music. What kind of art is this?
Students: Dance.

Teacher: Of course, dance. And therefore, when we say the word “dance,” not only the dance figures of the dance itself always appear in our minds, but also the music characteristic of it—the musical image of this dance. Dance and choreography are a huge and very diverse area of ​​art. There are dances that were born by one people, but have become the property of many. Some were danced only by the common people in villages and cities, others - only in aristocratic salons, and there were also those who enjoyed equal success in common people, and in court circles.

Today we will talk about only one dance, an amazing dance! It arose on a certain national basis, but gradually became the dance of almost all peoples of the world, appeared in a broad democratic environment, one might say, in city and village squares, and became an absolutely universal dance. At first it was only intended to be danced. And very soon it literally permeated all areas of music without exception. This dance has existed for more than three centuries and shows no signs of aging. I think you can guess what kind of dance this is. Well, to make your answer more convincing, guess the riddle:

The whole hall sparkled brightly,
Everyone is invited to the ball,
I ask you to answer,
What kind of dance is this?
Waltz!

Well, of course, the waltz, a dance that has a three-beat meter (one, two, three). It is emphasized by the presentation of the accompaniment typical of a waltz: in the first quarter there is a bass sound, and in the second and third quarters there are two chords that form a unified-sounding harmony with the bass. (show music text)
Now listen to how this waltz sounds when performed.
Performed by student R. Bazhilin “Waltz”
TO homework distribute sheet music with “Waltz”, where children must arrange dynamic shades.
Teacher: Do you know how the waltz originated?

A long time ago, residents of small Austrian towns and villages gathered on the lawns to relax after work. They sang and danced, briskly stamping their wooden shoes, spinning and jumping: one-two-three. The violin played a simple melody cheerfully, the boys picked up the girls and slightly tossed them in the dance. And so this dance reached the most important city of Austria, its capital - Vienna. And the residents of Vienna were all inveterate dancers. They danced at home, at parties, in dance halls, and simply on the streets of the city. When the village dance "one-two-three" came to Vienna, the inhabitants Austrian capital they looked down on him and said disdainfully: “landl”, which meant provincial, hillbilly. Well, what kind of dance is this! Shoes knock, men throw women up, they scream in unison; try to dance such a dance on a smooth parquet floor - you will immediately fall down! Maybe try it as a joke? Of course, not so dashingly...hush, hush! No need to jump like that! The movements are softer, smoother. But he’s okay, this “landler”, this provincial! And the Ländler dance became a regular guest in all dance halls. (Slide)
Performed by F. Schubert "Ländler"
Discussion related to character and dynamics
Teacher: And then this dance turned into another, which began to be called a waltz. But where did this name come from? Maybe it is nobler than the previous one? Not at all! There is a device called rollers, between which metal plates are flattened and rolled. These two rollers rotate all the time and draw in the metal tape with their rotation. Isn’t that how the music of dance draws you in, draws you into whirling? So they called the new dance the word “Walzen” - spinning, rotating. (Slide)
This is how A.S. describes the character of the waltz in his novel “Eugene Onegin”. Pushkin:
Monotonous and crazy
Like a young whirlwind of life,
A noisy whirlwind swirls around the waltz,
Couple flashes after couple.
But the waltz really became famous when composers paid attention to it. Do you know who was the first to compose waltzes? No? Then I'll tell you now. But for this, let's remember Andersen's fairy tales.
Students: Flint, Wild Swans, Thumbelina.
Teacher: Well, in which fairy tale does music play a major role?
Let me remind you that in this fairy tale, the princess refused to accept gifts from the prince - a real rose and a nightingale - and to marry him. Then the prince smeared soot on his face and went to work for the king, the princess’s father. By evening, the prince made a magic pot, all hung with bells: when something was cooked in this pot, the bells called out an old song.
Sounds like “Ah, my dear Augustine”
Student: The tale is called "The Swineherd". (Slide)

Teacher: Well, who is Augustine?
Augustine is the name of a singer. He lived in Vienna almost four hundred years ago. He walked around the city and sang songs. Everyone loved Augustine very much, because in his company life became brighter and more fun. The singer became especially popular in the year of the plague epidemic. The Black Pestilence mercilessly mowed down people. But Augustine walked around the city and sang his songs. People listened to his songs and believed that the plague would soon pass. One day, returning home late in March after a feast with friends, Augustine found himself in a cemetery and fell into a pit where poor people who died of the plague were buried. Waking up in the morning, Augustine, as if nothing had happened, got up and went into the city, telling his friends about his unusual overnight stay. After this, the singer’s fame increased even more, and people believed that his music and his songs were stronger than the plague.
The song sounds again.
Teacher: It's a waltz! It is possible that Augustine is one of the first musicians in the world to begin composing waltzes! How much beautiful waltzes written by composers in different countries! These are Russian composers, and French, and German. (Slide)

And now we will listen to the waltz of the German composer K.-M. Weber from the opera "The Magic Shooter".
This is one of the earliest waltzes; the opera was created in 1821. Here you can still feel the connection with the Landler, especially since in the opera he is danced by peasants to the simple accompaniment of village musicians right in the square.
The traditional shooting competition between hunters ends with a merry holiday. The peasants in their simple, uncomplicated clothes and rustic shoes dance slowly, smoothly describing circles. And the melody is simple and artless, has a uniform rotational movement.
The waltz of K.-M sounds. Weber from the opera "The Magic Shooter"
There is only one theme in the waltz, it sounds several times throughout the play. Each waltz formation has 8 bars - this structure is typical for dance music. Well, we will end our lesson with one of the most beautiful waltzes in the world. It was composed by a man who, at the beginning of the 20th century, lived in the capital of waltzes, the city of Vienna, and received the title “Waltz King” there. This is the famous Johann Strauss (there were two of them - father and son, both were famous and both famous, but the son significantly surpassed his father). (Slide)

Music is an art form that appeals to our sensory sphere with the help of sounds. The language of sounds contains various elements, which in professional terminology are called “means of musical expression.” One of these most important and most powerful elements is dynamics.

What is dynamics

This word is familiar to everyone from a physics course and is associated with the concepts of “mass”, “force”, “energy”, “motion”. In music it defines the same thing, but in relation to sound. Dynamics in music is the strength of sound; it can also be expressed in terms of “quieter - louder”.

Playing at the same sonority level cannot be expressive; it quickly tires. On the contrary, frequent changes in dynamics make music interesting, allowing you to convey a wide range of emotions.

If the music is intended to express joy, triumph, jubilation, happiness, the dynamics will be bright and sonorous. To convey emotions such as sadness, tenderness, trepidation, and soulfulness, light, soft, calm dynamics are used.

Ways to indicate dynamics

Dynamics in music are what determine the volume level. There are very few designations for this; there are much more real gradations in sound. So dynamic symbols should be considered just as a scheme, a direction of search, where each performer fully demonstrates his imagination.

The dynamics level “loud” is designated by the term “forte”, “quiet” - “piano”. This is common knowledge. “Quiet, but not too quiet” - “mezzo piano”; “Not too loud” - “mezzo forte”.

If the dynamics in music require going to the level of extremes, “pianissimo” nuances are used - very quietly; or “fortissimo” - very loud. In exceptional cases, the number of “forte” and “piano” icons can reach up to five!

But even taking into account all the options, the number of symbols for expressing loudness does not exceed the number 12. This is not at all a lot, considering that on a good piano you can extract up to 100 dynamic gradations!

Dynamic instructions also include the following terms: “crescendo” (gradually increasing the volume) and the opposite term “diminuendo”.

Musical dynamics includes a number of symbols indicating the need to emphasize a sound or consonance: > ("accent"), sf or sfz (sharp accent - "sforzando"), rf or rfz ("rinforzando" - "amplifying") .

From harpsichord to piano

Surviving examples of harpsichords and clavichords allow us to imagine what dynamics are in music. The mechanics of the ancient ones did not allow changing the volume level gradually. For a sharp change in dynamics, there were additional keyboards (manuals), which could add overtones to the sound due to octave doubling.

The special and foot keyboard on the organ made it possible to achieve a variety of timbres and increased volume, but still the changes occurred suddenly. In relation to Baroque music, there is even a special term “terrace-shaped dynamics”, since changing volume levels resembled the ledges of a terrace.

As for the amplitude of the dynamics, it was quite small. The sound of the harpsichord, pleasant, silvery and quiet up close, was almost inaudible at a distance of several meters. The sound of the clavichord was harsher, with a metallic tint, but a little more resonant.

This instrument was very loved by J. S. Bach for its ability, albeit to a barely noticeable extent, but still to change the level of dynamics depending on the strength of the fingers touching the keys. This made it possible to give the phrase a certain prominence.

The invention of the pianoforte with its hammer action in the early 18th century revolutionized the possibilities of dynamics in music played on a modern grand piano. great amount gradations of sound and, most importantly, the availability of gradual transitions from one nuance to another.

The dynamics are large and detailed

Major dynamics are usually expressed by symbols set out in a table. There are few of them, they are clear and definite.

However, “inside” each of these nuances there can be a mass of more subtle sound gradations. There are no special designations for them, but these levels exist in real sound and it is they that make us listen with reverence to the performance of a talented performer.

Such fine dynamics are called detailed. The tradition of its use dates back to (remember the capabilities of the clavichord).

Dynamics in music is one of the touchstones of performance art. It is the masterful mastery of subtle nuances, light, barely noticeable changes that distinguish the playing of a talented professional.

However, it can be no less difficult to evenly distribute the increase or decrease in sonority when it is “stretched” over a large segment of the musical text.

Relativity of dynamics

In conclusion, it is worth noting that dynamics in music is a very relative concept, like everything else in our lives. Each musical style and even each composer has its own dynamic scale, as well as its own characteristics in the use of nuance.

What sounds good in Prokofiev's music is absolutely inapplicable when performing Scarlatti sonatas. And the piano nuance of Chopin and Beethoven will sound completely different.

The same applies to the degree of emphasis, the duration of maintaining the same level of dynamics, the method of changing it, and so on.

To master this means of musical expression well professional level, it is necessary, first of all, to study the play of great masters, listen, analyze, think and draw conclusions.