Mezzoforte

What it means

Mezzoforte means “half loud” and designates a medium volume between mezzopiano and forte. It is notated as mf. Together with mezzopiano it forms the middle of the dynamic scale.

Despite the meaning “half strong,” mf is not the arithmetic middle between soft and loud but a level below forte. In practice it is often understood as the basic volume from which one is graded upward and downward — especially in pieces that do not use the whole scale.

Like all dynamic markings, this one too is relative and is determined by the relation to the other levels of the piece and the scoring.

In the notation

The sign mf stands below the staff, for vocal parts above the text, and applies from the note under which it stands until the next marking. It often appears at the beginning of sections that are to be neither markedly soft nor markedly loud, and as an intermediate level within a crescendo or decrescendo.

Musical use

The middle levels become common only with the differentiation of dynamics in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; in older music, forte usually stands directly opposite piano. In more recent practice, mf serves to fix a basic brightness against which intensifications and reductions stand out. In accompanying parts it designates a volume that carries without covering the main voice.

It lies between piano and forte and often serves as a starting point for intensifications.

Performance practice

Understand mf as a reference point and derive the other levels from it, instead of seeking each one on its own. Take care that the level really stays below forte; in practice, mf often slips upward, whereby the room for intensifications is lost. In ensemble, keep the relationship between melody and accompaniment in view. And use the medium volume to shape through tone colour and articulation, where the dynamics themselves prescribe nothing.