Più forte

As Printed on a Score

Printed below the staff, as words or as più f beside the dynamic letter. It is relative: it raises the level from whatever came before and holds until the next dynamic. Inside longer directions it often pairs with a tempo change (più moto e più forte).

Abbreviations: più f

Also spelled: piu forte

How Composers Use It

Più forte names a step up without fixing where it lands, so it suits music that grows by stages — a repeated phrase, a strophe sung again, a second statement that should outweigh the first. If the exact level matters, write the letter (f, ff) instead; if the growth should be gradual, write cresc. It is common in Romantic piano writing and song, where it often marks a new phrase entering more strongly.

Example

Butterworth, Bredon Hill and Other Songs, “Bredon Hill”, voice, m. 64: “più forte”, in a song headed “Con anima”.

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