Plus

As Printed on a Score

Printed before the word it compares — plus lent, plus animé, plus expressif, plus intense — or doubled in de plus en plus (more and more). A comparative tempo word stays in force until the next tempo marking; plus with a quality lasts until that quality is replaced. Encore plus means “still more”.

How Composers Use It

The French più. Like any comparative it measures from what came before, so the performer needs a clear reference: put plus lent after a firmly established tempo, not after a passage already bending under cédez. Stacking comparatives — plus animé, then plus animé encore — is a clean way to build a section in steps. Pair it with a metronome mark if the amount matters.

Example

Lili Boulanger, Clairières dans le ciel, “Parfois, je suis triste”, piano, m. 6: “Plus animé”, then m. 12: “Plus animé encore” — the tempo raised in two steps before “Tempo I.” returns at m. 14.

Related Terms