IT diminuendo dynamics core term Support my free tools
Music symbols
- Abbreviation
- dim.
How is diminuendo played?
Reduce the sound progressively across the indicated span while keeping the notated tempo unless another instruction changes it. The word diminuendo or dim. may be followed by a continuation line, and a separate closing hairpin can express the same basic decrease. The starting level, target dynamic, phrase and duration determine the taper; the word form is often clearer across a long passage, but a wedge is not limited to a universal number of bars. Some composers and editions favour diminuendo, others decrescendo, so preserve the score’s own wording even when the practical dynamic action overlaps.
How does diminuendo sound?
Sound that fades steadily from louder to softer, easing tension or settling.
In context
Grove defines diminuendo as lessening tone from loud to soft, prints dim. and dimin., and records its practical interchange with decrescendo. The Open University and Gerou–Lusk likewise give dim. as the standard compact form, while current notation software retains separate dim. and decresc. text entries alongside the same closing-hairpin direction. Diminuendo may accompany a change of colour, energy or tempo in a particular phrase, but its core instruction is dynamic rather than an automatic slowing.