Pianississimo

As Printed on a Score

Printed below the staff as ppp in bold italic dynamic letters; the word itself is almost never spelled out. Like every dynamic it holds until the next one, so a reader looks for the following cresc., hairpin or new letter. Long quiet passages sometimes repeat it as sempre ppp.

Abbreviations: ppp

How Composers Use It

Treat ppp as a colour more than a measurement: it asks for the edge of audibility, and players reach it partly through tone — less bow, less breath — so the result depends on the instrument and register. Haydn and Mozart rarely go below pp; Beethoven uses ppp sparingly, later Romantic composers far more freely, and some go further still (pppp). Keep it for moments that matter; a whole movement at ppp loses the effect.

Example

Bruckner, Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, finale, flute 1, m. 316: “sempre ppp”, confirming the ppp reached a bar earlier at the end of a dim.

Related Terms