Dear Students,

What is F, MF, P, MP, etc??? Think carefully before answering...

um... this sounds like its supposed to be a trick or something lol.. forte, mezzo forte, piano, mezzo piano

I would have to say that it has to be relative. MF, or Medium-loud is much softer in the mid range of a flute than for say, a saxophone.
Since a flute is just not capable of creating the decibels that a trumpet can, you have to match it the best you can to the ensemble that you are playing with. So, maybe a trumpet at p would be a flute at mf.
I have found that the better designed the flute, the more ability the player has available for playing dynamics well. When I got a nice flute, I was amazed that I could play more than just p in the lowest range, and softly up high.
A piccolo is a different story...

HAHA!..UHHH..well do you want the definition or something? p playing soft but with good tone quality and air support. i don't know if that's the kind of answer you're looking for:D Umm..F is with a BIG full sound, LOUD. i find it easier to do vibrato in F notes....I dunno!

Tibbiecow gets an A+

schoolgirl, forte isn't for LOUD, its for POWERFUL, just like piano isn't quiet, it's intensely soft. My idol of music, one of my professors, always corrects us like this! Music isn't noise, music is music, and music isn't LOUD. (I don't want to come off nerdish or mean, I just wanted to share it with you! )

Celebrian, don't be harsh on her, this is what students are told, that things are soft or loud, which is untrue, music is variations of color, I tell students to think of dynamics as a painter uses various shades of blue...

this thread was to get them to think about this...

I wasn't trying to be mean! I am so sorry if I came off that way! I should have remembered that, even though I can hear my voice, no one else here can and that words can sound different seen instead of heard... My apologies! I honestly was not trying to be harsh.

I think that this thread was a great idea, Patrick, and I think it was brilliant of you to post it... Musical colors all depend on the painter, after all. I am still so sorry I offended you. I need to work on my writing skills; it's been far too long since I sat down and realized how I write... I suppose I am not a very good author!

Hey don't worry about it Celebrian I didn't see it that way at all and I am sure shoolgirl didn't. Patrick just must have misunderstood.

it's ok, this is just a thread to open up minds and give artistic solutions to technical problems

Good idea.

In my experience of playing f is for high notes and pp is for low (flat) notes when you run out of breath at the end of long phrases

Of course, everyone else's suggestions are better

Thank you, Kara! Everyone has a different theory on how f and pp is supposed to sound.... sometimes there is a severe contrast and other times there is very little difference at all in the way the musican sounds. Plus, the professor who told me about the f and pp is very dramatic (great on the podium, though!).

heehee, i'm not offended. this is how i was taught so yea. Hmm.. even though my defintion of f is wrong. What if i play the flute the right f..? Doesn't it depend on how you interpert 'loud'? How you play it on the flue? Hmm..maybe i cOUld play it by what you mean..but not say it? heehee, i'm confusing myself.:D HAHA!
~school is over in 4 days!!! AHHHH!^__^

WOW! Thanks for the A+, Patrick.

After I posted, I did some more thinking, and came up with these thoughts:
Dynamics are a tool of musical expression, much like articulation or tone.
Dynamics are written by the composer (or editor!!!!) to suggest 'decibel colorings' to express the musical idea.
Dynamics should be interpreted as a suggestion; it is up to the musician to express the music played, and not necessarily the same way every time you play it.