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Music Terms We have listed below some musical terms together with their abbreviations and meanings. Abbreviation Term Meaning DYNAMICS   Crescendo get louder   Diminuendo get quieter p Piano quiet pp  Pianissimo very quiet ppp Pianississamo (Jenifer Hood) See note below very, very quiet mp mezzopiano quite quiet mf mezzoforte quite loud f forte loud ff fortissimo very loud fff fortississimo (Jenifer Hood) See note below very, very loud sf sforzando suddenly very loud Jenifer also advises that the general rule is to add an "iss" for every added f or p.   e.g  .ff = fortissimo so fff = fortississimo and pp = Pianissimo so ppp = pianississimo.   Sorry, June, but as much as I loved your page, there is one flaw. I'm a professional musician from Finland, and I wanna say, that pianississimo is not a real word at all. There right term is piano pianissimo for ppp, and fff is forte fortissimo. Elina Juuti My response - Being a professional musician yourself you are obviously far more qualified that me on this subject but, having done a little more research I find that the term "pianississimo" is, in fact, featured in many dictionaries and musical sites. I am wondering if, perhaps, it is a difference within geographical regions, although I had thought music was fairly general worldwide. I could, however, not find many references to the term "piano pianissimo" being used for ppp. I did come across a site which mentions that musicians have devised various neologisms for these designations, including fortississimo/pianississimo, forte fortissimo/piano pianissimo, and more simply triple forte/triple piano or molto fortissimo/molto pianissimo. Mr. Brian Hughes has kindly added to this discussion by sending in the following comments:- This is regarding the use of the word pianississimo. In the Italian language there is no such word. Italian is similar to English in its use of adjectives which can be formed in to the comparative and the superlative. soft - piano (p) softer (more softer) - pui piano (piu p) (comparative) softest (the most soft) - pianissimo (pp) (superlative) loud - forte (f) louder - piu forte (piu f) (comparative) loudest - fortissimo (ff) (superlative) Just like in English, there can be nothing greater than the most (issimo). Originally, the Italian dynamic system which spread throughout Europe spanned from the softest (pp) to the loudest (ff). But there seems to have occurred a sort of dynamic inflation. Composer's wanted sounds that were louder and softer than the sounds produced by earlier manifestation of instruments (such as the modern piano versus the fortepiano; where improvements in the action and the resonance both increased its volume and its ability to play soft. To them there was no comparison between the sound of the late 18th century ff and a late 19th century sound that was to be as loud as possible. And now we will see modern composers write not only fff but also ffff and even fffff. I wonder what an Italian teacher says to their students when they see those symbol. Probably something similar to what I say to my students. FFF that's really loud, louder than loudest. FFFF that's unbelievably loud! And when my students ask what FF means. I tell them to imagine a world that has no engines, no amplification, no electric motor, no jack hammers, no chain saws. A world that when compared to our time seems as if everything has stopped and all is utterly quiet. And that utter quietness was universal. Then I ask them to imagine what would be a loud sound in that world: that is the meaning of ff.         TEMPO INDICATORS   Adagio slow   largo slow and dignified   andante flowing, at walking pace   allegro quick and bright   allegretto a little slower than allegro   vivace fast and lively   presto very quick   accelerando getting faster   ritenuto (rit.) holding back   rallentando (rall.) slowing tempo (Jenifer Hood) flexible tempo   rubato flexible tempo (Jenifer Hood) INTERPRETIVE INDICATORS   cantabile singing style   dolce soft and sweet   espressivo expressively   lacrimato tearfully/crying (song) (Stephen Moore)   legato smooth   staccato detached   You may also find the following other pages useful and, hopefully, interesting:- Simple explanation of musical notation Musical Mnemonics and Naming the Scale           Copyright © 2000-2020 Hints and Things All Rights Reserved. No portion of this site may be reproduced or redistributed without prior written permission from Hints and Things. All trademarks & copyrights throughout Hints and Things remain the property of their respective owners. Hints and Things cannot be held responsible for any information given on this site nor do they necessarily agree with, or endorse, the views given by third parties.