Dynamics & Expression
Mezzo Forte (mf)
Pronounced MET-soh FOR-tehWritten as mf
Mezzo forte, written mf, means moderately loud: a little softer than forte and a little louder than mezzo piano. It is close to many players' natural, everyday playing level.
Mezzo forte means "half loud", or moderately loud. Mezzo means "half" or "medium", and it brings forte a step toward the middle. Its sign is mf, between mp and f.
Your "normal" level
Mezzo forte is close to the volume most people play at when they are not thinking about dynamics, which is both useful and risky. Useful, because it is a comfortable home base with room to go up or down. Risky, because a piece marked mp, mf and f can come out at one unchanging mf if you are not listening. Before you play, decide what your mf sounds like in this piece and room, and measure the other levels against it.
Where mf is used
- A melody that should stand out over a softer accompaniment.
- A confident, singing middle level in music that saves f for bigger moments.
- The "home" level of a piece that rises and falls around it.
mf versus f
The step from mf to f should be clearly audible but not shocking. Think of mf as speaking up in a room and f as projecting to the far wall. Keep the tone full and relaxed at both levels; extra loudness should come from arm weight, not from stiff fingers.
Our Match the terms: level 2 sheet practices mf and mp, and Dynamics & Tempo Ladders asks you to put all six levels in order.
mp and mf are the two middle rungs of the Dynamic Ladder, and the Musical terms & signs chart lists them side by side.
Common questions
Is mf louder than mp?
Yes. Mezzo forte (mf) is moderately loud; mezzo piano (mp) is moderately soft. They are the two middle levels of the dynamic scale.
Practice it: free worksheets
The Dynamic Laddersix volumes from pp to ff — the full family of loud and soft
Dynamics & tempo laddersLoudness and speed each climb a ladder: pp up to ff, and Largo up to Presto. Put both ladders in order, then read them in music (Handouts 63, 55 and 64).
Match the terms: level 2Draw a line from each term to its meaning. All-new words — rounds one and up are Exercises 08–11. The colors tell you what kind of word it is, but each color has several meanings on the right, so read carefully.
Musical terms & signsThe words and symbols a piano score uses to tell you how loud, how fast and how to play each note. Most of the words are Italian. The colors match the term-matching exercises (Exercises 08–11, 74 and 75).