{"id":79,"date":"2018-03-02T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-03-02T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2023-01-16T14:31:59","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T22:31:59","slug":"crescendo-and-decrescendo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/crescendo-and-decrescendo\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art Of The Crescendo And Decrescendo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dynamics really are the icing on the cake when it comes to music. You can play with perfect technique, hit all the right notes, have impeccable timing\u2026 but dynamics are what will set your playing apart and allow you to truly express a thought, idea or emotion with your playing.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of my favorite dynamic techniques is the crescendo\/decrescendo. It&#8217;ll really enhance your playing, and it&#8217;s super easy to get started training your brain, ears and muscle memory to play with the crescendo\/decrescendo.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<center><div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:439px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/detail\/74273787\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:135.30751% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/74273787?et=jN3rjRJ5TgFHCkHSDHzssQ&amp;tld=ca&amp;sig=_nkmSmuCb6ByLzHAarORebJh1RQc-EefhWQ2RdTcY-s=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"439\" height=\"594\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/center>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>Master the crescendo\/decrescendo and you&#8217;ll be playing like acclaimed pianist Glenn Gould in no time.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So what do these strange words mean?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em>Crescendo<\/em><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: To become gradually louder.&nbsp;<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em>Decrescendo<\/em><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: To become gradually softer.<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<center><div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/detail\/84893751\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:99.83165% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/84893751?et=_FuySUaxQihWtr8kiYxWJw&amp;tld=ca&amp;sig=vv9zs8UylmUY-Ga9qSnIbVz44bkC2K5Q7PtCQsQPEk8=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"593\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/center>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Jazz pianist Bill Evans: Another master of dynamics<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These two concepts allow us to play with tension, intensity, and emotion. Best of all, they are both fun and straightforward skills to develop and use. I like to include these dynamics in my technique practice. Try including gradual increases and decreases in volume while you practice your scales, triads, arpeggios, warm ups etc.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Play G triads with a volume change from soft to loud on the way up, and then loud to soft on the way down.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Play a hannon or warm-up exercise moving from very soft, to medium soft and then back again on each repetition. See how subtle you can make these volume changes while staying in control.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Try a minor scale at your loudest volume to begin, and then see how gradually you can transition to your softest possible volume by the end of the scale.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Play a C major scale in both hands, with one hand playing a crescendo on the way up while the other one plays a decrescendo. This one&#8217;s surprisingly tricky!&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<center><div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/detail\/1137364509\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:66.66667% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/1137364509?et=gNcKovniSQRJYV2t3G2D5g&amp;tld=ca&amp;sig=28LzyQOfCDkFc5Nl1PPVh1H5DuzAxg9ykRYWILjvRj4=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/center>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Neoclassical pianist Nils Frahm, modern master of dynamic playing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are just a few ways with which you can utilize dynamics in your practice time. Use your imagination to create your own unique dynamic practice. Set up your own practice plan to make room for creativity in your daily or weekly sessions at the piano. You&#8217;ll be glad you did!&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Happy playing!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8211;<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lisa<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<iframe class=\"email-form-include-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/weekly-email\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dynamics will transform your sound.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1108,509],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-musicianship","category-technique"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11108,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions\/11108"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}