Expressive Devices

What is an expressive device?

• Something used to make music hard for performers

• The way a performer creates their own interpretation of music

• An electronic device that tells you how expressive you are playing

• The tools a performer uses to improvise

Name the four expressive devices we use in music.

• Articulation

• Tempo

• Range

• Timbre

• Dynamics

Which expressive device involves gradually getting louder?

• Ritardando

• Crescendo

• Diminuendo

• Staccato

What is the term for gradually slowing down the tempo?

• Accelerando

• Rubato

• Ritardando

• Fermata

True or False: Staccatos tell the player to play with a smooth and connected style.

• True

• False

True or False: Fortissimo means "very loudly" in Italian.

• True

• False

True or false: Bright and Dark are the only two ways to describe timbre.

• True

• False

What does the symbol "p" indicate?

• Piano (meaning soft)

• Piano (meaning very loud)

• Forte (meaning very soft)

• Forte (meaning loud)

What does ritardando mean?

• Gradually getting louder

• Gradually getting softer

• Gradually slowing down

• Gradually getting faster

What does "rubato" mean?

• to get stronger (volume)

• with strict tempo

• with flexible tempo

• with a sudden change in tempo