Piano Forum

i'm still laughing a bit from leucippus response.  the harpsichord gave very little ability to shade meanings as the piano does.  if you see four of five levels of dynamics - there's something shady going on, imo.  but, according to romantic interpretations - anything goes.
i think if more students were given the opportunity to play on a harpsichord once or twice - they would see and hear better in terms of what they might want to imitate.  i say, might, because everyone is different.

i personally prefer to hear only the basic two.  forte and piano.  the reason i say this - is that there are many different variations of playing using only those two dynamics, and, in my opinion, is very effective.  reminiscent of the early fortepiano.

or, you can choose to play only one, mp or mf.  the additional voices that come in give you the textured loudness rather than dynamics through the touch or pedal.  also, the speeding up of rhythms (say you start with slower notes and move toward sixteenths) gives an impression, together with more voices, of a loudness vs softness.