Dynamics are essentially musical volume. Dynamics help to create a few important musical structures: mood, scenery, shading, and character.

1. Mood - Otherwise known as emotional disposition.  What temper do you want to be? The tone of the piece can really set how someone feels.
2. Scenery - Otherwise known as the landscape view of the piece. Are you in a circus or are you depressed because your doll broke? These are important backdrops to what is happening in the music.
3. Shading - What is the color of the piece? What is going to happen? Ask yourself this question. If the piece is about goblins on Halloween night, you probably don't want to scream the music. Volume gives the listener hints about what is to come, and about what is happening.
4. Character - This is the personality and overall charm of the music. Is this a piece that is strong, dark, and handsome? Declare who you are through sound!

Now that we've covered the important expression dynamics encompasses, what do those symbols ACTUALLY MEAN?

ppp - Pianississimo

• Pee-an-ees-ee-see-moh
• As softly as possible
• Sounds like a whisper

pp - Pianissimo

• Pee-an-ee-see-moh
• Very softly
• Sounds like a mouse

p - Piano

• Pee-an-oh
• Softly
• Sounds like a kitty cat meow

mp - Mezzo Piano

• Met-zoh-pee-an-oh
• Moderately or Medium Soft
• Sounds like someone humming

mf- Mezzo Forte

• Met-zoh-fore-tuh
• Moderately or medium loud
• Sounds like someone talking

f - Forte

• Fore-tuh
• Loudly
• Sounds like someone yelling

ff - Fortissimo                

• Fore-tee-see-moh
• Very loudly
• Sounds like an airplane

fff - Fortississimo

• Fore-tees-ees-ee-moh
• As loudly as possible
• Someone screaming at the top of their lungs

sfz or sf- Sforzando or Sforzato

• Ts-fore-tsahn-doh / Ts-fore-tsah-doh
• Strongly accentuated
• Forced loudly

fp or sfp - Forte Piano or Sforzando Piano

• Fore-tuh-pee-ahn-oh / Ts-fore-tsahn-doh-pee-ahn-oh
• Loud, then suddenly quiet
• Like a baby's crying suddenly quieted by a bottle

Cresc. or Crescendo <

• Cruh-shehn-doh
• Gradually get louder
• Like an ambulance coming toward you from a distance

Dim. or Diminuendo >

• Dih-min-you-ehn-doh
• Gradually get softer
• Like a racecar passing by you

I have several large pumps of hand sanitizer in my home studio, and at my pianos. This is very important to me since I cannot always get up in between students. The average kid encounters billions upon trillions of germs daily. These germs have the lifespan of spreading to as many as 10+ people in hours. Bacteria double at an astronomical pace, and are living and growing.
 
As a musician, health is very important. We use our hands and often our mouths to operate our instruments, which leaves us vulnerable to invaders of the bacterial kind. Here are a few healthy tips to remember as a musician.
 

1. Never put your mouth on an instrument that isn’t yours, or hasn’t been extensively cleaned. Bad bacteria enter our body easiest through our orifices, and our mouth is a very common way to come into contact with nasty germs.
2. Wash your hands routinely. Before and after practice. The more often you clean your hands properly (Rinse, Lather, Scrub, Rinse, Dry) the less likely you will be to have bacteria lingering on your skin, or the debris on your skin.
3. Reduce hand shaking to a minimum. When you shake hands, you can gather more bacteria than you can when kissing a person. The surface space of the skin touching other skin is vast.  Keep wipes or sanitizer handy if you are the Concert Master or the Soloist in particular.
4. Don’t share food and beverages! I can’t emphasize this enough because this is exactly how I ended up with mono for six months in high school – sharing drinks with my friends. All musicians should keep a water bottle handy and full always. Make sure it has a cap or lid to keep harmful bacteria off the mouthpiece as much as possible.
5. Clean your instrument, cleaning rods/rags, case & lining weekly. Fabrics and materials can swarm with germs, and a regular weekly cleaning can keep them sanitary.
6. If you are on the go, invest in wipes or sanitizer. Be cautious of cheap hand sanitizers though. These can strip the good bacteria from your body. My personal favorite is Thieves Waterless Hand Sanitizer by Young Living. Use my member number 10456767 if you decide to make a purchase. It’s a club membership company, like Costco or Sam’s club, and if you don’t have a membership then you must be invited by someone with a membership, or you’ll be randomly assigned to a team leader (Basically a support contact). You can e-mail me directly for more info on this.
7. Don’t attend practice or lessons if you or someone close to you (in the vicinity or in your daily life) is even potentially ill. Seriously. Don’t. If you’re using your hands or mouth on your instrument, you could be doubling the spread of illness – particularly if you blow through your instrument. Make sure the people closest to you in lessons or performances aren’t ill as well. Protect yourself with supplements and extra hand washing if you are uncertain. Good immune boosters are:
   1. Elderberry
   2. Ginger
   3. Myrrh
   4. Oregano
   5. Vitamin C & D
   6. Echinacea
   7. Probiotics
   8. Ginseng
   9. Rosemary
   10. Thyme
   11. Cinnamon
   12. Eucalyptus
   13. Clove
   14. Inner Defense by Young Living
   15. Life 9 by Young Living
   16. Tons of water
8. Wipe everything down that you can. Germs LOVE to stick to surfaces you’d rather they not. The counter may have caught wind when someone (or you) blew their nose.  Door handles, music covers (non-paper), trash bins, counters, metronomes, tuners, batons, pens, pencils, erasers, or basically anything you can. Don’t be afraid to even get walls and windows. As little things like brushing up against them, or a breeze can transfer germs.
9. Avoid being in the crowd or get a flu shot. Mingling is an important part of life as a musician, and it often involves close contact, brushing up against people, using things they’ve used, etc. You can fight this with a flu shot, or even suggestion number 7 of fortifying your immune system with support from dietary additions and/or supplements.