Using dynamics in music
WAYS TO CREATE DYNAMICS WITH TECHNIQUE
A good songwriter creates movement when they write songs. Some ways to create movement in your music are through techniques that make your playing dynamic. These techniques are commonly notated. But here I'll give you their names and a description of each. Many of them are based on Italian but they should look familiar if you've seen any notation at all.
Attacking Notes:
| mezzo forte | relatively loud |
| mezzo piano | relatively soft |
| forte | loud |
| piano | soft |
| fortissimo | very loud |
| pianissimo | very soft |
| pizzicato | lightly plucked with a dampening of the note with your palm |
| staccato | short, quick attack or pluck of the string causing a noticeable separation of sequential notes |
| legato | attacking the string in a way that causes the notes to tie together audibly |
- using rest strokes
- using different parts of the nail attacking different areas of the string
- percussively attacking the strings or the body of the guitar in different areas
- using accents on certain beats
Tempo:
| ritardanto | slightly slowing the tempo |
| accelerando | slightly going faster |
| lento | slow |
| presto, rapido | fast |
| lentissimo | very slow |
| prestissimo | very fast |
Volume:
| crescendo | growing louder |
| diminuendo | growing softer |
Get your guitar and pick something to play. Try to go through each one of these techniques and perform it on that piece of music.
WAYS TO CREATE DYNAMICS WITH ELEMENTS
You can create dynamics by switching focus to another musical element:
For example you have written a very melodic piece that clearly has melody as its focus. Somewhere in the song, take a few bars to really change up the tempo to focus on the rhythm. Or change the rhythm of the notes entirely to bring life into it.
Creating dynamics in songs...to think about.
- What elements can be showcased in it?
- Where can I change rhythm?
- What progression am I following?
- What's the song structure?
- How am I varying my phrases and to what effect?
- Based on where I want to the song to go, how can I use harmonic intervals to do that?
- Can I use different textures and where should I use them?
- Am I telling a story or am I making a statement?
- What techniques can I use to get across the message I want.