7: Spelling, Distinctive Treatment of Words, and Compounds

7.75: Dynamics

Chapter Contents / Italics, Capitals, and Quotation Marks / Music: Some Typographic Conventions

Terms indicating dynamics are usually given in lowercase, often italicized: piano, mezzo forte, and so on. Where space allows, the spelled-out form is preferred in both text and musical examples. Symbols for these terms are rendered in lowercase boldface italics with no periods: p, mf, and so on. “Editorial” dynamics—those added to a composer’s original by an editor—are sometimes distinguished by another font or by parentheses or brackets.