Practising Dynamics

[mousekowski]

I used to think that all piano teachers always tell their students to do more dynamics. When my piano teacher told me do do more dynamics a couple of weeks ago, it occured to me, like a bombshell landing, that at best, I'm not actually very consistent with dynamic markings and at worst, I just don't do them at all!

The only 'exercise' for dynamics I have seen is Cortot's exercises for preparing the RH for Chopin Op10 No12. How do forum members go about practising dynamics? Is it something you spend much time on?

[omar_roy]

It's not just about following the dynamics that are written on the page or doing a certain amount of dynamics.

When applying dynamics to your pieces, you should take into account not only the markings of the composer, but also the context and direction of the phrase, its character, the character of the entire piece, where you are harmonically, where you're going harmonically.  Most of the time things come fairly naturally, but if you're ever at a loss, then being able to answer the above and then apply your answers to decisions is extremely important.

Even if you shape your phrases quite naturally and without much thought, you should always understand why.


There isn't really any way to "practice" your dynamics.  You just have to do them.  Pick a phrase out of your music, imagine how you want it to be shaped in your head and then do it!  Then analyze.

Did it go as planned?  If not, Try again.  If yes, then did you like it?  Why or why not?  Regardless of whether you liked it or not, why did you do it that way?

Above all else, LISTEN to what you're doing.  I know it sounds stupid, but when you're playing are you REALLY listening intently to what you're doing?  Be honest with yourself.

[lostinidlewonder]

Liszt also suggested than when doing crescendo start softer than you normally would and get louder, start louder and get softer for decrescendo. You may also tackle long volume changes stepwise using particular notes which make it easy for you to step up in volume or down, it is like a square line and then you aim to smoothen it out more like a sine wave.

[m1469]

Dynamics and how to achieve them are seemingly a bit ambiguous.  It for sure depends on the individual pianist and how they manage to use their mechanism, it for sure depends on the musical text, and it for sure has something to do with the individual instrument and acoustics of the room, as well.  However, there are also concrete principles to dynamic sound as produced by the piano itself.  I used to believe that high-pitched sound cuts right through lower sounds or even a mass of sound, and that may be true in terms of quality.  

I've been learning for the past couple of years that, in fact, the middle and lower registers of the piano will have much more sheer volume than the very upper register does, and that you can achieve a forte much easier in the lower register than in the upper register.  So, if you have a descending scale covering several octaves on the keyboard, for example, where you want to maintain the same volume over the entire scale, you have to adjust mechanically as you descend or the volume will increase as you descend.  This is tricky, but exploring your own relationship with the piano and what you personally have to adjust in order to achieve that kind of control is indeed something you can practice!

Right now, what I am doing is using scales as one way to practice my ability to make these adjustments and figure out how my body needs to relate to the instrument, as well as to sharpen my listening.  Ultimately, dymanics aren't actually dependent just upon mechanics, but on concept as it relates to what is possible.  

An interesting side note, in my world, is that recently I was singing a solo in a smaller church and I decided to adjust my voice (which is fairly big in general) to the acoustics of the room, as well as the fact that the very last note was supposed to be sustained at a "p".  That was the hardest I've ever had to work for any note to date!  I've not had to work as hard for any other reason than the fact that it was supposed to be quiet, and that combined with the fact that the adjustments I was making in my body had nothing to do with quality.  So, I decided to still use my full vocal quality, my whole body, but control the volume with my diaphram and inner muscles instead of just cutting out some portion of my voice.  Difficult!  I felt like I was giving birth ... haha ... that's mostly a joke.  The hard work didn't come from the fact that a big voice was trying to make a quiet sound, it came from the fact that an individual was exploring her own flexability while maintaining full vocal quality, and that part of it is just as hard of work for anybody, I think, whether the voices themselves differ a bit from individual to individual or not.

There's an interesting relation to piano playing, in my opinion, in that I think people tend to try to give a kind of "half-sound" if they must be quieter, and not go all the way to the keybed, for example, and often these things affect the quality of the sound.  That kind of control in piano playing I think needs to come from other inward adjustments which are actually very similar to singing (and I even recently feel like it can come nearly from the same muscles as with singing).  So, adjusting volume without sacrificing quality, there's a lot to explore and learn there and can definitely be practiced.

[mousekowski]

Yeah, because when I try to 'project' my tone during, for example a quiet passage in a Mozart slow movement, I feel that I am going for a harder finger attack. To what extent I'm actually changing the tone using the shape of my fingers and the tension in my muscles, I don't know - maybe I'm just playing louder!

[rachfan]

Try this.  When you're entering a soft passage, without falling off the bench, lean backward such that the arms are straight out with hands on the keys.  As you do that your arms should attain a floating sensation.  Play softly.  See if that works.  If not, try this.  Usually when we play ff or fff we move our bodies closer in to the keyboard.  However, that can work for quiet passages too.  Of course, you can use the soft pedal as well (which actually changes timbre and coloration).  But I'd recommend that you master playing softly on your own before calling on help from the soft pedal. 

[perfect_pitch]

Personally... I just get my students to play an octave with their left hand (e.g. C), and a chord with their right (Any one say C Major) I get them to play what they think is a fortissimo, then work backwards through the dynamics until pp - usually to see if they have a gradual lessening of the volume and weight they give to the keys.

Then I do the opposite (pp - ff)

Good for also getting them to play without banging the keyboard.