The Missing Dynamic

[will]

pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff are usually described as very soft, soft, moderately soft, moderately loud, loud and very loud.
   Shouldn't there be something between mp and mf? The difference between moderately soft and moderately loud sounds more than the difference between other adjacent dynamics.
   There is no term for a moderate dynamic.  Why not a middle dynamic 'm' for a moderate sound?

[pianistimo]

in reality, there probably is.  when you play a phrase, all the notes are somewhat graded and it's not a whole phrase of mp or mf.  it's usually going from one dynamic to the other. 

an important thing to learn is dynamics 'in context.'  for instance, you wouldn't really play a fp dynamic with a really loud first note (just accented) in mozart.  and in beethoven, if you were in a really soft section - you wouldn't play an sfz within a p section as though lightening hit through the roof. 

[Dazzer]

Are you sure you're not looking for

mp
mp+
mp++
mp+++
mf---
mf--
mf-
mf

HAHAHA.

[alzado]

Frankly, you are driving the train.

You interpret these as you see fit.

Obviously, MF is louder than P.

But that's why there's some artistry left in the performance.

Put tempo in the same class.  How do YOU interpret the tempo indications?

Good luck to you--

[dinosaurtales]

Is this sort of like the scoring for Olympic figure skating, where it's all relative?  You save the "highest" score in case somebody skates later that's better than the current guy?

[will]

Yes, I hear what everyone is saying.
I was just wondering if anyone else had wondered my thougths.
In the past I would always take mf as a the middle dynamic and make everything else relative to this.  Then I realized that there are more dynamic levels below mf than above it. Still, I realize there is a lot more to interpreting dynamics than this...