Sforzando

Hello, and welcome!


This is Sforzando, my blog. Some of you out there (who are not amongst the music theory geeks of this world) are wondering what Sforzando even means. Well allow me to explain...


Sforzando is a music term defined as meaning accented, or forced. It will often appear on music as the three letters sfz. When  you see that under your note you hit it, and you hit it hard!

I kind of want to approach life this way. You hit it, hard! Give it everything you've got, because it's here one second, and gone the next. If you don't hit it Sforzando, it'll go unnoticed. The other notes that aren't accented are important too, but they usually don't get the credit that a blasted sforzando gets. I want to be a sforzando. Get in, get noticed, get out of the way.

It must be obvious by now, but I am a bit of a music nerd. I used to be in a concert band, and I fell in love.

If you don't know anything about concert band, I'll tell you a few things. A concert band is like a family. Each memeber is vital, and brings something to the table that no one else does. Each also has a unique personality, and the people that play particular instruments tend to have particular mannerisms.

The flute and clarinet players are often more reserved than the rest of the band. They keep to themselves, but would prefer to be playing in a large group that doing a solo. They are often more modest than the rest of the band. Certainly they are nice people, but they don't always live life loud.

I am not a flute or clarinet player.

Next, you have your saxophone players. They are certainly louder, almost to the point of being obnoxious. They are more social people, more outgoing. They are always ready for excitement, but do they live the life of a sforzando?

No particularly. A saxophone player hits everything hard, it's no kind of surprise when an accented sforzando shows up. Saxophone players are fun, but they live life amped up at forte so an accent doesn't really make a bang.

I am not a saxophone player.

Then you have your bass section. Beefy, gutsy, the glue that holds everything together. They don't care what other people think about them, and to their credit. They are usually so good people only think good things about them. But the thing is, a bass player doesn't care if you notice them or not.


I am not a bass player.


Then you've got percussion. The social butterflies, the ones that pine for attention, the show-offs. They are usually super talented, but they are so wrapped up in other people noticing them that they aren't trying to hit a sforzando. They just want people to like them, and people don't usually realize they like the sforzando note until it's passed, and the discomfort of the jarringly loud moment is gone.


I don't play percussion.


Then you have your brass. Witty, charming, good looking. The stars of the show. They're want you to hear them, but they also want to be the best. They are trying to hit the dynamics, the style, the sforzando.


I am a brass player. A trumpet player in particular.


Anyone who knows anything about trumpet players know that they are as loud as their instrument, hardly outspoken, kind of narcassistic people.


But you know what. That's the way we like it.


Someone once told me their are only two kinds of people in the world. And trumpet players are better than both of them.


But on a more serious note, I just wanted to mention that not everyone can play sforzando. A concerto is not made up of repeated accented notes. It's made up of the quiet people, the extremely loud people, the growing dynamics, the clashing chordal progressions, the rushed triplets, and the fermata.  Whatever your thing, you're part of the peice.

I just hope you hear me, playing sforzando here on my blog.

-Tumpet Player