A composer may want to specify that a piece of music is to be played softly. These dynamics will be written directly in the music: "Mezzo piano" means "a little soft," "piano" means "soft and sustained" and "pianissimo" means "very soft" or "as soft as possible." Mezzo piano may be abbreviated as "mp." Piano may be abbreviated as "p." Finally, pianissimo may be abbreviated as "pp." or "ppp." for "very soft" and "as soft as possible," respectively.
A composer may want to specify a piece of music should be played loudly. "Mezzo" means "in the middle," "mezzo forte" means "a little loud," "forte" means loud and sustained and "fortissimo" means "very loud" or "as loud as possible." Mezzo may be abbreviated as "m." Mezzo forte may be abbreviated as "mf." Forte is abbreviated as "f." Finally, fortissimo is abbreviated as "ff." or "fff." for "very loud" and "as loud as possible," respectively.
Composers may want the musician to make a portion or phrase of music get quieter over time. This is called a "diminuendo" or "decrescendo," which is abbreviated as "dim." This may also be represented as a long ">" symbol written into the music underneath the notes showing where the change in volume should begin and end. A very quick change in volume from loud to soft is called a "forzando," which is abbreviated as "fz.", "sf" or a ">" symbol over the note. This means the note should be played with great force but rapidly become softer in volume.
Composers may want the musician to make a portion or phrase of music get louder over time. This is called a "crescendo," which is abbreviated as "cres." This may also be represented as a long "<" symbol written into the music underneath the notes showing where the change in volume should begin and end. A very quick change in volume from soft to loud is called a "rinforzando," which is abbreviated as "rf." or a "<" symbol over the note. This means the note should be played with a quickly increasing volume, then the sound is abruptly ended.
A few other terms help the musician determine the composer's intent when it comes to volume and attitude of the music. "Perdendo," "perdendosi," "morendo," "smorzando," "al niente" or "n" all mean to fade away. "Calando" means "becoming smaller." "Calmando" means "to become calm." "Dal niente" means "to come from silence." "Fortepiano" and "Fortissimo piano" both mean "accented loudly, then soft." "In rilievo," "hauptstimme," "H" or "dehors" means that instrument in an ensemble is to play louder so it can be heard over other instruments. "Marcato" means "stressed" or "pronounced." "Sotto voice" means as an undertone or whispered.