Dynamics

In music, dynamics means how loud or quiet the music is.

In written music the dynamics are shown by letters which stand for Italian  words for the dynamic levels. They are listed in the table below. Notice that  is pronounced in the Italian way

Abbreviation	Italian word	English meaning
pp p mp mf f ff < ( cresc ) > ( dim. )	pianissimo piano mezzo piano mezzo forte forte fortissimo crescendo decrescendo	very soft Soft medium soft medium loud Loud very loud getting louder getting softer

Dynamic levels are not something that can be measured exactly. Exactly how loud mp should be depends on several things: what is happening in the music, the instrument, the size of the room in which the music is being played etc. The important thing is that dynamic levels should be correct in relation to one another.