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davewerden

Dynamic Range

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In the many master classes and lessons I have given, I often hear players who are not taking full advantage of the musical excitement to be gained by using the full dynamic range indicated in music. We all tend to play in a mezzo-something dynamic. It is more difficult to play at very soft or very loud dynamics, but playing at these more difficult dynamics is a skill just like any other skill. Practice it and it will get better.


Certainly the first part of the process is to develop the ability to play at the dynamic extremes. When you warm up with scales, for example, you can mix the dynamics from one scale to the next. You should use everything from pp to ff at least. You can also use wider dynamics within each scale. Start the scale at pp, crescendo to ff at the top, then decrescendo back to pp when you return to the bottom. As you do this, try to make the increase/decrease as gradual as possible so the overall effect is smooth.


Once the warmup is complete, observe the dynamics in the music you practice. Test yourself by looking at a page with several dynamic levels on it. Play the first few notes of each passage and see if you can hear the distinction between your mp and mf, for example. If a page has p, mp, mf, and f, you should be able to produce 4 distinct volume levels for those phrases.


As you get more comfortable really playing the written dynamics, progress to using a variety of dynamics within each phrase to add musical interest. Most phrases have "high points" (musically, not range) where you can come up in volume. Make sure you are putting your heart and soul into finding the music within the music.

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