A cappella

As Printed on a Score

Printed at the head of a choral piece or section to say the voices sing unaccompanied; any keyboard part in the score is then for rehearsal only, often marked so. It holds until an accompaniment enters.

Also spelled: alla cappella

How Composers Use It

Unaccompanied voices rely on tuning and on harmony that supports itself: keep lines singable, give singers pitch references after modulations, and expect long pieces to drift. In Baroque usage the phrase could mean the old church style, in which instruments merely doubled the voices, so an early score marked a cappella may still list instruments.