Loud, Soft, Fast, Slow: Dynamics and Tempo Terms

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Arts · Music (General / Band / Choir)
SP-MUS-003 · Free to print and use in your classroom · substituteplans.com
Page 2
Loud, Soft, Fast, Slow: Dynamics and Tempo
Terms
Arts · Music (General / Band / Choir) · Grades 6-8 · 45 minutes
Time needed
45 minutes (one class period)
Prep
Copy the 2-page worksheet (one per student).
Technology
None.
Student
independence
High. Individual work with an optional partner check.
Copies to make
One 2-page worksheet per student
Materials
Pencils, Worksheet
Goal for today: Students will match common Italian dynamic and tempo terms to their meanings and use them to
describe how a piece should sound.
Before the bell
☐ Copy the worksheet, one per student (2 pages).
☐ Write on the board: DYNAMICS = how loud or soft. TEMPO = how fast or slow.
☐ Keep the answer key on your desk. Students may read terms aloud, but you do not need to pronounce them
perfectly.
Say this to start
Music is full of Italian words. Today you will learn a short list of them. Dynamics are words for how loud or soft the
music is. Tempo words tell the performer how fast or slow to go. Read the glossary first, then use it to answer the
questions. You may talk quietly with a partner when you compare answers.
Run of show
Minutes
What you do
What students do
0–5
Take attendance. Hand out the worksheet and read the
board definitions aloud.
Follow along and look over the worksheet.
5–13
Ask students to read the glossary silently and underline
any word they have heard before.
Read and underline.
13–23
Tell students to do questions 1–9 (matching and tempo
order) and the Rank the dynamics table.
Match each term to its meaning and rank
the terms.
23–33
Tell students to answer questions 10–15. Walk the room.
Answer the question set on their own.
33–41
Tell students to complete question 16, the Plan a Piece
task. Invite two volunteers to read their plans if time
allows.
Write four markings for an imaginary piece
and say why.
41–45
Read answers to 1–9 from the key. Collect all worksheets in
a stack.
Check matches and hand in the worksheet.

SubstitutePlans.com
Arts · Music (General / Band / Choir)
SP-MUS-003 · Free to print and use in your classroom · substituteplans.com
Page 3
If things go wrong
• If students cannot pronounce the words, tell them to say them however they like. The meaning matters, not
the accent.
• If a student asks whether largo and adagio mean the same thing, tell them both are slow and largo is the
slower and broader of the two.
• If a student finishes early, check that each ranking table is complete, then use the early finisher list.
• If students want to sing or clap, they may do so quietly only if the room allows. Otherwise keep it silent.
Early finishers
• Write a short sentence for each of the six dynamics using the meaning in your own words, for example: pp
means barely whisper.
• Make up a name for a piece of music and list its tempo and dynamic markings.
Support and challenge
• Support: Let students copy each term and its meaning onto the margin before matching.
• Challenge: Write a story in three sentences where each sentence needs a different tempo and dynamic.
Name the terms.
Notes for the teacher (you fill this in)
Jot a few lines before you leave. A full Daily Sub Report is in the free Sub Survival Kit at SubstitutePlans.com.
How far the class got / what to pick up next:
Students who were especially helpful:
Anything the teacher should know: