Advanced Guitar Player

The two basic dynamic indications in music are:

• p  or piano, meaning "soft".
• ƒ  or forte, meaning "loud".

More subtle degrees of loudness or softness are indicated by:

• mp  stands for mezzo-piano and means "moderately soft".
• mƒ, stands for mezzo-forte and means "moderately loud".

Beyond f and p, there are also

• pp, standing for "pianissimo", and meaning "very soft",
• ƒƒ, standing for "fortissimo", and meaning "very loud",

To indicate an even softer dynamic than pianissimo, ppp is marked, with the reading pianissimo possibile ("softest possible"). The same is done on the loud side of the scale, with ƒƒƒ  being "forte possibile" (loudest possible).

NB. Dynamic indications on a musical score are not absolute but are relative to the volume of the rest of the ensemble and also to what has been played previously.