I've composed a short melody, however I'm very new to all this piano theory, how would I tell the pianist to play the entire piece softly? (mp, not pp), and how would I write exceptions for specific notes? For example, take this piece of music.
How would I get the pianist to play the entire piece softly, but the bar in red, to be played regularly?
The conventional method is to write sempre mp in the first measure. Sempre means always.
The exceptional measure could be marked as più forte ("louder"), followed by sempre mp again.
Another possibility is rinforzando ("reinforced") with a dashed line after it to indicate the emphasized part. Individual notes can be marked as rfz.
Another approach would be to simply state the instructions either in a blob of text preceding the music page or perhaps somewhere between the title and the music:
This though would require translation should the work be published for e.g. Klingons or Lojbanists who may be familiar with classical music scoring conventions but not English.
% LilyPond engraving system - http://www.lilypond.org/
\version "2.18.0"
\header {
title = "Vuvuzela Concerto in D"
}
\markup {
\vspace #2
\italic {
"Play entire piece softly ("
\dynamic mp
") except for measure 7." }
}
bbbb = {
\tempo 4=96
bes1~bes~bes~bes~bes~bes~bes\ppp
}
\score {
\new Staff << \bbbb >>
\layout { }
}
(Redundant information may also help future translators link language to the musical notation of the time, and will otherwise help reinforce the composer's intentions—however bizarre they may seem.)
Why are we making such a fuss over this? If you want the piece to start mp, write 'mp' in the first bar. If you want a particular section played mf, write 'mf' at that point. Then 'mp' again. A confirmatory '(sempre mp)' might be useful at a new section of the piece.
BTW, there is no such thing as 'regular volume'. If you want mf, say so.
You can instruct the pianist to use the soft pedal by writing una corda above the score, at the very beginning.
Mark the louder passage with tutte le corde or tre corde to indicate normal volume.
Soft pedal can affect timbre. If you don't want that, you can just use the standard dynamic markings to indicate soft (piano) or loud (forte) in the appropriate sections.
