Piccola pausa

As Printed on a Score

Printed above the staff at a phrase join, over a rest or a short break; it affects only that point, and the tempo resumes at once.

How Composers Use It

A short, unmeasured breath: shorter than a fermata, longer than the lift a breath mark implies. It lets a singer or player separate two thoughts without stopping the music’s flow. The comma and caesura signs can do the same job; the words are useful when you want to say explicitly that the break must stay small.

Example

Butterworth, Love Blows as the Wind Blows (song cycle), voice: “Piccola Pausa”, printed in the same bar as “affretando” and “sostenuto”, with “calando” two bars later.

Related Terms