SOME DYNAMICS TIPS
- Updated
The
measure of any fine artist is in the degree and
quality of the CONTRASTS they produce. Much of those
contrasts the composer has already WRITTEN for us. But
the dynamics written in the
music only SUGGEST the range between INTENSITY and
LACK thereof. It's up to the PERFORMERS to determine
that range ONSTAGE, bringing TO LIFE that which would
seem CONTRIVED were it not for IMAGINATION and
EXAGGERATION. The music lives WITHIN the dynamics!
a9. Classical music is about CONTRASTS; all relative
to what comes before and after. SILENCE is our BASE
upon which a SOUND experience (a contrast right THERE)
dynamically GROWS and subsides. Second themes contrast
in character with FIRST themes (as
do a set of variations); TEMPO differences offer contrasting
MOODS; MOVEMENTS contrast with and complement each OTHER... They all
LEAD one to another and BALANCE each other with some sense of
LOGIC or INEVITABILITY.
a18. In the piano range, no one can hardly play TOO softly! An orchestra
is ONLY as great as the COMPLETE dynamic contrasts
in sound it can produce! Each instrumental section's sound
masses TOGETHER (esp. in the bass), creating
a SURPLUS of cumulative sound. String players should
be prepared to make
a SACRIFICE PLAY occasionally; if you THINK your section
is too loud, FAKE IT but don't ADD any sound! There's nothing to be ashamed of!
It's the MOST you could do! In fact you
can be PROUD to help the orchestra play so much
softer! It's amazing
how this one little trick will make your orchestra more
IMPRESSIVE! WIND players (outside the clarinet and
flute families) must find some way to EXPAND their
dynamic range to an extreme: it WILL be necessary
and it WILL get you jobs!
a19. Every phrase has UNWRITTEN crescendos and
decrescendo
as well. They are usually more SUBTLE than the written
ones and very subjective (a matter of taste). This
is called PHRASING or SHAPING and singers do it
MORE than instrumentalists. A MUSICAL conductor will show these to you.
Otherwise you must examine
the phrase's harmonic rhythm and DIRECTION for its peaks and
valleys! About half the time, there may SEEM only ONE way to shape
a particular phrase. It is OURS to imagine NEW
ways!
a24. Your audience should perceive SUDDEN changes in dynamics. (p suddenly to pp or
f
suddenly to ff) EXAGGERATE these indications!
sb30. Realize that someone (or sometwo) in your section
will play too loud on most SUBITO pianos.
COMPENSATE by literally NOT playing the first note. Let the players
with LESS control step in it!
a31. Also, it is more DRAMATIC to crescendo
UP TO a subito p. (Likewise to diminuendo or taper before a
subito f.)
s37. Expect that some person(s) will usually play
too loudly in soft dynamics and try to compensate
for them.
a41. Start more softly at the beginning of crescendos
and more loudly at the beginning of decrescendos.
Exaggerate!
bs49. Pizzicati don't carry well, so they should
be played LOUDER than marked. It helps to play them
"fat" with some ring to it (with the first finger
joint, like a jazz player).
a50. If you can't hear the leading voice,
you may be too LOUD!
a54. Learn to fade (taper) literally to nothing (niente)
at the ends of phrases, and to grow out of nothing
at the beginning of a quiet phrase.
s55. In forte, longer notes sound louder. Try playing
more on the string in ff.
a69. If in making a long gradual crescendo, you didn't
stretch it out and have no more room left to go,
DROP BACK A BIT dynamically at any repeat of a
sequence and CRESCENDO again. This will prolong
the build-up. (I call this a recrescendo!)
sb82. Learn to save bow; esp. in long, quiet passages.
A minimum bow speed will keep you from playing
too loudly. Don't feel like every bow will be your
LAST! Use bow management. Use less bow also in loud
passages: a great and more frequent "bassism"
occurs when players feel they need to use the ENTIRE
bow to make the strings speak. This usually just makes
each note BULGE IN THE MIDDLE or the END of each
stroke. The
string will always speak properly if you stop
BETWEEN the notes! "Whole-bow" players usually feel
they need to start each and every note at either
the tip or the frog; they rarely start in the middle
of the bow. We need to conserve bow on long notes
AND medium-length notes because musically we don't
want any notes to STICK out unnecessarily.
a89. Whenever we play any kind of INTRODUCTION,
come way down dynamically for the entrance of the main
theme (usually after two or four bars). Set them up... then get
OUT of the way! Give the music room to build.
sb91. In soft playing (between p and niente), it becomes necessary
to play WITHOUT being able to hear yourself. This
is essentially why most orchestras cannot play softer
than a true piano. Most players INSIST on hearing
themselves!
I tell you that NOT hearing yourself is a risk WELL worth taking! Especially in a bass section, one person
playing so softly that no one can hear them (better
yet, "sacrifice" playing) EXPANDS their
section's dynamic range! (Bass players can also use
the "ear-to-the-scroll" technique!) Not being able
to hear yourself is LESS risky if you have good
intonation.
117. While playing, you should ask yourself many
questions, such as;
a. How important, therefore prominent, is the voice
we're playing?
b. Is the section too loud or too soft given it's
current relevance? Do we have the fastest moving
notes?
c. Are we articulating the gestures of the conductor?
d. Are we dragging or rushing? Is the conductor trying
to move the tempo forward, keep it steady, or gradually
relax it?
e. Are we saying anything? Is our part exciting, or interesting?
What would make it so? What did the composer have
in mind, and how can we exaggerate it?
f. Is my section in time (synchronized) with the melodic voice?
g. When is payday again?
h. What should the CHARACTER of the music be? Is there
a nationalistic flavor to bring out?
i. Is the music building UP to something or RELAXING
for the moment or to a close? Where is the composer going with this?
How can we give the music more direction? (Should I
compensate for my section?)
j. Are we in time with the instruments on the OTHER side of the stage? (Memorize a couple of bars and
watch some bows; esp. the concertmaster’s!)
k. Am I in tune with my section? Do we sound like
ONE instrument?
121. When a movement ends with a fade-out (esp. in
a decrescendo to neinte or morendo is marked), then
simply fade out EARLY or at the end of your ONE bow
stroke! (Don't
take yet ANOTHER bow or you will defeat the purpose!
Drop out entirely, in fact! Encourage EVERYONE to drop out
one by one in time for one or two front players to
finish out. If that's you, then end without letting
anyone hear you STOP playing. Neinte means "nothing"
and morendo means "dying" after all!
124. In a string section, there always seems to be
someone who doesn't/can't compensate for the heaviness
of the bow and hand. We all started out like this,
and it results in relatively louder/heavier downbows,
frequent unintended upbow crescendos, slower and louder bow retakes,
and general lateness and BULGING-IN-THE-MIDDLE
bowstrokes. Unless you
play in Philadelphia, I advise AGAINST being a whole-bow
player! ECONOMY OF MOTION is helpful. Teach yourself
to SAVE bow! Use only as much bow speed as you NEED plus a minimum
safety margin. This is how we bring about those magically
soft dynamics of pp and softer.
126. If the texture of the orchestration is rather
thick or heavy, then articulate crisper and stay out
of the way more dynamically. For example, Schumann's
symphonies are orchestrated rather densely but the
nature of the music is often rather light; so it helps
to lay back dynamically and just play with some or
more space BETWEEN notes and use subtle accents to make sure
each note SPEAKS on time. Play drier (shorter). Be
TRANSPARENT!
It's more important to hear the very BEGINNINGS of the
notes... rather than the ends.
127. When accompanying in a concerto, or a choir,
we must give the soloist LOTS of dynamic room.
Usually, one or two dynamic levels LESS are required;
sometimes even more! Don't COMPETE with but
COMPLEMENT the leading voice! When holding pedals in concertos,
the sound of only ONE bass player is enough to deliver
the effect! So SACRIFICE your sound for the sake of
the music!
You’ll still get paid! This will help you HEAR
them better as well as complement their playing.
135. Don't take pp's lightly! Dynamic range are the measure
of a great orchestra! It is hard enough to play in
control in f; and to exhibit control in p is even
more difficult! But to deliver a TRUE PP or even softer
requires great self-control and SACRIFICE from all of the musicians!
At very low volumes, one begins to actually notice
SILENCE closing around the collective sound like a
warm blanket. To hear music coming from a very distant
place against a deafening silence, is so INSPIRING that people
will stop breathing to hear that beautiful sound! The
contrast is magical! Somehow, music performed at the
lowest threshold of our hearing, AWAKENS deep emotions
(echoes) within us! Therefore, I say it is
IMPOSSIBLE to play too soft in pianissimo, and
that it is more MUSICAL to play true pianissimo SLOPPILY
than not. EXAGGERATE these dynamics!
143. If you can't play any softer and your section
is still too loud, SACRIFICE yourself! FAKE with your bow actually
a millimeter off the string! If the
music doesn't need you for a few bars, LET GO of your
desire to hear yourself! SERVE the music: serve your
AUDIENCE! Please string players! You
really DON'T have to hear yourself all the time!
144. When playing softest, we string players must
UNWEIGHT the bow. As a result, the notes tend to speak
LATE without the usual bow pressure and we would DRAG the
tempo slower. So COMPENSATE with a little anticipation (space) and
deliberation (subtle accent)! Make
sure each note speaks on time and push your
colleagues
around you with some kind of movement... but WITHOUT getting
louder or actually rushing!
147. Not to beat a dead horse, but ...... (this one
ain't dead yet anyway) It is so much harder to play
the same music in pp than ff, that it is worth all
the attention we can stand to give it. Most of us
tend to crescendo and play in the MIDDLE of our dynamic
ranges. Then we don't have to concentrate on playing
SOFTLY... on UNWEIGHTING that heavy bow and bow arm.
But this is often where
the TASTIEST musical bits are... (Music is FOOD for
the soul y'know!) in the contrasting dynamics! We couldn't
crescendo
much at all without starting softly, so we can
produce much MORE crescendo if we were to start
exaggeratedly softer
than the composer called for! This makes music more
INTENSE!
To do that, we have to counter the tendency to want
to hear ourselves all the time. One possible way for
string players to do this is to feel ourselves playing
through our bows' resistance to the string. That which
you are pulling and pushing against can tell you how
loudly you are playing and whether your instrument
spoke on any given note (in retrospect)... We
hate to diminuendo! We hate to LET GO of our
sound!
a16. Dynamically speaking, bring OUT melodies and melodic fragments only.
If contrapuntal, you may have only the second or third
or least most important voice; esp. in fugues! Hide
pedals and other long notes because they are
relatively boring.
a15. Always find the MOST important voice and let
it stand out effortlessly. You don't serve the music
by listening only to yourself.
With enough experience EXAGGERATING dynamics,
you'll find that each dynamic LEVEL (p, mp, mf, etc.)
gives you more ROOM to phrase
WITHIN it.
I feel I should also acknowledge the role our
VISUAL aspects play in the service of music as most
audience members ALSO perceive INTENSITY, COMMITMENT
and much else thru VISUAL CUES... much as we might
WISH they IGNORED our demeanor! So USE IT to
COMMUNICATE with your audience! Don't be AFRAID to
MOVE, DANCE and make APPROPRIATE FACES in your SOLO
work! Just keep it in BALANCE with your well-won
SOUND! DON'T make it your WHOLE performance!
