Educate the student in how to interpret dynamic abbreviations in sheet music. These abbreviations stand for Italian words that signify how loudly or softly to play a piece.
Teach the student when to play softly. "P," "pp" and "ppp" markings instruct players to play softly, more softly and as softly as possible, respectively. These markings stand for "piano," "pianissimo" and "pianississimo," respectively.
Instruct the student when to play with medium sound. "Mp," which stands for "mezzo-piano," indicates medium-soft playing, while "mf," which stands for "mezzo-forte," indicates medium-loud playing.
Tell the student when to play loudly. "F," "ff" and "fff" indicate loud, louder and loudest sounds on the piano. These stand for "forte," "fortissimo" and "fortississimo," respectively.
Indicate when to play certain chords or notes extremely loudly. The "Sfz" marking, which stands for "sforzando," indicates that students should play a certain note, chord or short phrase as loudly as possible. Oftentimes this marking is used for accenting notes, rather than playing long phrases.
Help the student understand how to execute dynamics. Soft playing often aligns with emotional or sad music as well as quick passages of fast notes. Soft playing requires a lighter touch on the keys and does not take as much strength as loud playing. Louder playing, on the other hand, requires the student to hit the keys quickly at first, no matter how short or long the notes are. Students need to use a little more strength in their wrists to execute louder notes.