Just about any piece of printed music will have some Italian phrases or abbreviations on it, so as a singer it is important that you have an understanding of some of them.

In terms of volume, or loudness, the following terms apply:

Term: What it means: Abbreviation:

CRESCENDO Getting louder gradually cresc. or <

DIMINUENDO Getting quieter gradually Dim.

FORTE Loud f

FORTISSIMO Very Loud f f

MESSA DI VOCE Getting louder gradually then

gradually quieter. < >

MEZZO FORTE Moderately loud mf

MEZZO PIANO Moderately quiet mp

PIANISSIMO Very quiet pp

PIANO Quiet p

So, in the MESSA DI VOCE exercise, (the ‘hairpins’) we run the full range of volumes from ...

pp to p to mp to mf to f to ff

Practice the exercise regularly, concentrating on maintaining the pitch of the note, and supporting the lungs with the diaphragm pushing in and up, and keeping the ribcage held high.

It is important to realise that the volume you sing at will have a direct influence upon the tone, or ‘timbre’ of your voice. Try to keep your voice sounding resonant and full even during quiet passages - you don’t want the voice to ‘thin out’ or start sounding nasal or reedy.

This may be quite tricky to master at first, but practice singing very quietly, without letting the voice become nasal - if it does you’ll feel the resonance start to ‘ring’ in your sinus: bring the note back down to the chest.

The pitch of a note has no direct bearing on the volume of a note:

High notes can be sung at any volume, from pp ff

Low notes can also be sung at any volume, from pp ff

Practise your scales at varying volumes, whilst maintaining timbre.