Piano: softPiano:弱
Same melody, same speed. Only the sign is p. Watch how thin the bars are.
同樣的旋律、同樣的速度,只有記號是 p。看看長條多細。
Music · Unit 1 · Lesson 4 · 音樂 單元一 第四課
Play one short melody with a loudness sign and a speed word, from pianissimo to fortissimo and from largo to presto, and watch the notes get brighter and thicker as the music gets louder.
同一段短旋律,配上一個力度記號和一個速度詞,從 pianissimo 到 fortissimo、從 largo 到 presto,看音符隨著越來越大聲而變亮、變粗。
Notes tell a player what to play. Italian signs tell the player how loud and how fast. Dynamics say how loud, and tempo says how fast, and the two can be changed on their own.
音符告訴演奏的人要彈什麼;義大利文的記號告訴他要多大聲、多快。力度說多大聲,速度說多快,兩者可以各自改變。
Try It · 動手試試
Below is a short melody, written for this page, drawn as bars. Choose a loudness, a speed, and a shape, and press play. The notes and the rhythm never change. Only the signs change. Brighter, thicker bars are louder. Try a crescendo (<) and a diminuendo (>) too.
下面是為這一頁寫的一段短旋律,畫成長條。選一個力度、一個速度、一個形狀,再按播放。音和節奏從來沒有變,變的只有記號。越亮越粗的長條越大聲。也試試漸強(<)和漸弱(>)。
Loudness · 力度
Speed · 速度
This page plays it at about BPM, seconds in all. That number is our choice, not a rule.本頁用的數字是我們自己選的,不是規定。
Shape · 形狀
Loudness ladder, soft to loud · 力度階梯(弱到強)
Speed ladder, slow to fast · 速度階梯(慢到快)
Shape over time · 隨時間的變化
Reading · 英文閱讀
Imagine you are a composer, and the musician who will play your piece is far away, or lives a hundred years after you. You can write the notes. But how loud should they be? How fast? Notes alone only tell the player which pitch and how long. To say the rest, composers add signs and words.
There are two questions. How loud is the music? That is called dynamics. How fast is it? That is called tempo. For loudness, composers use letters. The letter p stands for piano, which means “soft.” The letter f stands for forte, which means “loud.” The word mezzo means “half,” so mp is a medium soft and mf is a medium loud. Doubling a letter makes it stronger: pp is pianissimo, very soft, and ff is fortissimo, very loud.
These signs are always relative. A p never means a precise amount of loudness. It only says that this part should be quieter than the parts marked f. In fact, a tuba playing mezzo piano can be louder than a guitar playing forte. Each player decides what soft and loud are for the instrument and the room.
Loudness can also change gradually. Crescendo means “growing,” and it is drawn as two lines that open to the right, like <. Diminuendo means “dwindling,” and it is drawn as two lines that close to the right, like >. These signs are sometimes called hairpins. In Chinese they are 漸強 and 漸弱.
For speed, the words are also Italian. From slow to fast, a few well-known ones are largo (“broad”), adagio (“at ease”), andante (“walking”), moderato (“moderate”), allegro (“lively”), and presto (“quick”). To change the speed, ritardando means slowing down, and accelerando means speeding up. Such words give a feeling and a rough speed. A metronome mark, which you met in the last lesson, gives the exact number.
Why Italian? The practice grew up in the 17th and 18th centuries, when most composers were Italian. Later, composers also wrote in French, German, and English. And why is a piano called a piano? It is short for pianoforte, “soft and loud.” Early in the 1700s, the keyboard instrument made by Cristofori could play both, depending on how hard the player pressed the key. The harpsichord and the organ could not do this.
Questions · 閱讀理解
What is the difference between dynamics and tempo?
Why can't a sign such as f be given one fixed loudness number?
A player sees mf, then a < sign, then f. What happens to the music?
Words & Phrases · 生字及片語
Quick Check · 小測驗
1. What does piano mean in music?
2. Which sign means “gradually louder”?
3. Which list goes from slowest to fastest?
4. What does mezzo forte mean?
5. Why are so many speed words Italian?
Try It in the Model · 在模型裡試試
Then combine them: a soft, fast melody, or a loud, slow one. Dynamics and tempo are separate dials.
然後把它們組合起來:又弱又快的旋律,或又強又慢的旋律。力度和速度是兩個各自獨立的旋鈕。
Same melody, same speed. Only the sign is p. Watch how thin the bars are.
同樣的旋律、同樣的速度,只有記號是 p。看看長條多細。
Now the sign is f. The notes are the same, and everything else is the same too.
現在記號是 f。音一樣,其他的也都一樣。
The bars grow brighter and thicker from the first note to the last.
長條從第一個音到最後一個音,越來越亮、越來越粗。
The melody plays twice. Listen for how long it takes each time.
旋律播兩次。聽聽每一次花多久。
Game · 小遊戲
Six questions. First you hear one reference note at a medium loudness, and then the melody. Is the melody softer, louder, getting louder, or getting softer? Choose the matching word.
六道題。你會先聽到一個中等音量的參考音,再聽旋律。旋律是比較小聲、比較大聲、越來越大聲,還是越來越小聲?選出對得上的詞。
Question 1 of 6 · 第 1 題(共 6 題)
Right on the first try · 第一次就答對 0 / 0
This browser cannot make sound, so the question is described in words instead.這個瀏覽器無法發聲,所以改用文字描述這一題。
Game · 小遊戲
Five questions. The same four notes are played twice, at two different speeds. The question names one of the two speed words. Pick the version that has that speed. The speed ladder shows the order from slow to fast.
五道題。同樣四個音用兩種速度各播一次。題目會說出其中一個速度詞,選出符合那個速度的版本。速度階梯顯示由慢到快的順序。
Question 1 of 5 · 第 1 題(共 5 題)
Right on the first try · 第一次就答對 0 / 0
This browser cannot make sound, so the question is described in words instead.這個瀏覽器無法發聲,所以改用文字描述這一題。
Stories Behind the Signs · 記號背後的故事
Four short stories about the words musicians use for loud, soft, and fast.
關於音樂家用來說大聲、小聲、快的那些詞的四個小故事。
A Name · 一個名字
The piano takes its name from the Italian words for soft and loud. An inventory kept by the Medici family of Florence shows that Bartolomeo Cristofori had a piano by 1700. Cristofori called it a keyboard “of piano and forte.” Unlike the harpsichord, it changed its volume with the touch of the player, and the harder you press the key, the louder the sound.
鋼琴(piano)的名字來自義大利文的「弱」和「強」。佛羅倫斯的梅迪奇家族的財物清冊顯示,克里斯托弗里(Bartolomeo Cristofori)在 1700 年已經有一架鋼琴。他把它叫做「有弱有強的」鍵盤樂器。它和大鍵琴不一樣,音量會隨彈奏的人的觸鍵而變,鍵按得越用力,聲音就越大。
A Language · 一種語言
Italian is typically used because it was the language of most composers when these words became common. The practice developed in the 17th and 18th centuries. Later, composers wrote speed words in their own languages too. Beethoven was one of the first German composers to do so, but only a little. Later still, Schumann and Mahler wrote more and more of their instructions in German.
會用義大利文,是因為這些詞開始普遍的時候,大多數作曲家說的就是義大利文。這個做法在十七、十八世紀發展起來。後來作曲家也用自己的語言寫速度詞。貝多芬是最早用德文的德國作曲家之一,但用得很少。後來舒曼和馬勒,更是把越來越多的指示寫成德文。
A Tuba · 一支大號
Dynamic markings are always relative. Because of that, a tuba playing mezzo piano will likely be louder than a guitar playing forte. A high instrument such as the piccolo can sound loud even when it is not very strong. This is why a conductor listens to the whole group before deciding what “soft” means.
力度記號永遠是相對的。所以大號吹 mezzo piano,很可能比吉他彈 forte 還大聲。像短笛這種高音樂器,就算不是真的很用力,也可能聽起來很響。這就是為什麼指揮要先聽整個團,才決定「弱」是什麼意思。
Two Words · 兩個詞
Words for speed can change their meaning. A modern largo is slower than an adagio. In the Baroque period it was the other way around, and largo was the faster one. Allegretto changed too. This is one more reason why a metronome number is the only exact answer, and why the speed words give only a feeling.
速度的詞,意思也會改變。現代的 largo 比 adagio 慢,但在巴洛克時期剛好相反,largo 比較快。allegretto 的意思也變過。這就是為什麼只有節拍器的數字才是精確的答案,而速度詞只給一種感覺。
In the Curriculum · 對應課綱
The elementary arts curriculum names dynamics and speed directly. It does not list crescendo or diminuendo by name. Those two come from the music itself.
國小藝術領域的課綱直接寫到力度和速度,但沒有點名「漸強」「漸弱」;那兩個詞是從音樂本身來的。
音 E-Ⅱ-4藝術領域・音樂(國小三、四年級) · Arts, music (grades 3–4)
音樂元素,如:節奏、力度、速度等。
Dynamics and speed are both named as elements of music.力度和速度都被列為音樂元素。
音 A-Ⅱ-2藝術領域・音樂(國小三、四年級) · Arts, music (grades 3–4)
相關音樂語彙,如節奏、力度、速度等描述音樂元素之音樂術語,或相關之一般性用語。
Italian terms such as piano, forte, and allegro are exactly this kind of musical vocabulary.piano、forte、allegro 這些義大利文,正是這一種音樂語彙。
音 E-Ⅲ-4藝術領域・音樂(國小五、六年級) · Arts, music (grades 5–6)
音樂符號與讀譜方式,如:音樂術語、唱名法等。記譜法,如:圖形譜、簡譜、五線譜等。
Music terms are listed together with music symbols and reading music.音樂術語和音樂符號、讀譜方式一起被列出來。
INe-Ⅱ-5 說明 5-1自然科學領域・學習內容說明 · Science, notes on the content
可藉由手的觸摸、觀察鼓面豆子的跳動、弦的振動等活動,察覺物體振動會產生聲音,而振動的強弱會影響音量的大小。
A stronger vibration gives a louder sound. This is the physics under the word “forte.”振動越強,聲音越大。這就是「forte」這個詞底下的物理。
Myth vs. Fact · 常見迷思
✗ Myth · 迷思Forte means a fixed number of decibels.Forte 就是固定幾分貝。
✓ Fact · 事實Dynamic markings are always relative. A forte never means a precise level of loudness. It only says to play louder than the soft parts of the same piece.力度記號永遠是相對的。forte 不是精確的音量,只是說要比同一首曲子裡弱的部分大聲。
✗ Myth · 迷思Playing louder also means playing faster.越大聲,就是越快。
✓ Fact · 事實Loudness and speed are separate. Dynamics change how loud, and tempo changes how fast. A melody can be quiet and quick, or loud and slow. Special words, ritardando and accelerando, change the speed.音量和速度是分開的。力度改變多大聲,速度改變多快。旋律可以又小聲又快,也可以又大聲又慢。改變速度要用另外的詞:ritardando 和 accelerando。
✗ Myth · 迷思Allegro means an exact number of beats per minute.Allegro 就是精確的每分鐘幾拍。
✓ Fact · 事實The numbers for the speed words are only very rough approximations, and different books give different ranges. A metronome mark is the only way to write an exact number.速度詞的數字只是非常粗略的近似,不同的書給的範圍也不同。只有節拍器標記,才能寫出精確的數字。
✗ Myth · 迷思A louder note is just the same note with the volume knob turned up.大聲的音,只是把同一個音的音量鈕轉大。
✓ Fact · 事實On an acoustic instrument the player changes the sound. On a piano, the harder you press a key, the harder the hammer hits the string and the louder the sound. The note’s character changes a little, too.在傳統樂器上,是演奏的人改變聲音。鋼琴上,鍵按得越用力,槌子打弦越用力,聲音就越大;音的性格也會稍微改變。
Remember It · 記憶口訣
mp is medium soft, and mf is medium loud.
mp 是中弱,mf 是中強。
Crescendo opens to the right, and diminuendo closes.
漸強向右打開,漸弱向右合起來。
They are two separate dials.
它們是兩個各自獨立的旋鈕。
Allegro is lively. M.M. = 120 is exact.
Allegro 是輕快;M.M. = 120 才是精確。
Protect Your Ears · 保護耳朵
Classroom Activity 1 · 課堂活動一
You need · 準備材料
Steps · 步驟
Clap with soft hands, not hard hands. The loudest sound should still be comfortable, and the conductor decides when to stop.
用軟軟的手拍,不要用力拍。最大聲也要覺得舒服,由指揮決定什麼時候停。
Classroom Activity 2 · 課堂活動二
You need · 準備材料
Steps · 步驟
You just did what a composer does: you wrote down how to say something, and someone else can perform it. Use a comfortable speaking volume and keep your voice from straining.
你剛剛做的就是作曲家做的事:把「怎麼說」寫下來,讓別人也能照著表演。用舒服的說話音量,不要喊到喉嚨用力。
Go Further · 延伸閱讀
Sources · 資料出處
Names, dates, numbers, and quotations on this page were checked against these sources (October 2026). The melody is original, written for this page. The gains and the playback speeds are our own choices, and the page says so. · 本頁的人名、年代、數字與引文依下列資料查證(2026 年 10 月);旋律是為這一頁自己寫的;增益與播放速度是我們自己的選擇,頁面上也這樣寫。