Sec

As Printed on a Score

Printed at the note or chord it affects — often a single attack, sometimes a whole passage (très sec et bien rythmé) — above the staff or beside the dynamic. On a single chord it applies only to that chord; over a passage it lasts until a contrary word such as lié or laissez vibrer.

How Composers Use It

Sec asks for a dry, clipped sound with no resonance afterwards: release key and pedal at once, damp the string, stop the note dead. It suits a final chord that should end like a door shutting, or a guitar-like accompaniment. Pianists need the pedal cleared, so do not leave a Ped. mark running under it. Lili Boulanger writes it into brass parts too, for short, unresonant chords.

Example

Ravel, Miroirs No. 4, “Alborada del gracioso”, piano, m. 195: “sec” on an ff, with the dynamic dropping to pp in the next bar.

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