Ma

As Printed on a Score

Never printed alone: it sits inside a direction, usually after a comma, joining a main word to its qualification (“Allegro ma non troppo”, “dolcissimo, ma espressivo”, “diminuendo sempre, ma non rit.”). The qualification lasts exactly as long as the word it modifies.

How Composers Use It

Ma introduces a counterweight: the first word sets the instruction, the second limits or corrects it. Its most useful job is preventing a natural side effect: “dim., ma non rit.” stops a fading phrase from slowing, and “p, ma marcato” keeps soft notes defined. Keep the main word first and the limit second, and use one ma per direction where you can; Beethoven’s “Adagio ma non troppo, ma divoto” shows that two can work when each does a separate job.

Example

Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6 in B minor (“Pathétique”), first movement, clarinet, m. 329: “dolcissimo, ma espressivo” in a solo passage marked between ppp and pp: soft, but still singing.

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