Two exercises to practice musical dynamics: knowing what each dynamic marking and each term for a change of volume means, and putting the markings in order from piano to forte and back. Answers are checked right away, and you can generate printable worksheets with solutions.
What does this marking mean?
A symbol or a term appears and you choose what it indicates. There are three levels: the dynamic markings from ppp to fff (what each symbol means, its Italian name, and which symbol matches each loudness), the changes of loudness (crescendo, diminuendo, sforzando, fortepiano, rinforzando, subito, morendo…) and everything mixed.
Put the dynamics in order
Several markings appear out of order, and you tap them from softest to loudest or from loudest to softest. The last level uses the Italian names (pianissimo, mezzo forte…) instead of the symbols.
Here neighboring markings can appear together, such as mp and mf: unlike tempo terms, dynamic markings do not have overlapping ranges, only a fixed order. The boundary between mp and mf, between soft and loud, is the one most worth practicing.
Printable worksheets
The same exercises on paper, for class: the eight dynamic markings and four terms for change to match with their meaning, and six series of markings to number. Everything on one side of A4, with a separate answer sheet.
Download the worksheet (A4 PDF) Answers
You can print and photocopy it freely for the classroom.
Need more than one sheet? Generate more worksheets here, each with different markings and series, and print them straight from your browser.
Why is there no listening exercise?
Because an exercise based on playback volume would not be reliable: it depends on each device, and what sounds like f on one phone may sound like mp on another. You can tell whether something sounds louder or softer, but you cannot decide which dynamic marking it is from the volume of a speaker. Dynamics are relative to the piece and to the instrument, and they are learned by playing and listening live, not by guessing an isolated volume.
How to review before you start
The full theory is in musical dynamics: the eight markings with their symbols and names, hairpins, and sudden changes. For the other main expressive resource, tempo, see the tempo and agogics exercises.