Sforzando piano

As Printed on a Score

Printed below the note as sfp. It is a two-part event inside one note or chord: an accented attack, then an immediate drop to p for the rest of the sound and the music after it, until a new dynamic — often a cresc. — follows.

Abbreviations: sfp

How Composers Use It

Strongest on sustained notes, where the drop is audible: a held wind or string chord that bites and then hollows out, often feeding a crescendo from the new soft level. Beethoven uses it freely. It is sharper than fp, whose loud attack is less pointed; on a short note the two are hard to tell apart, so a plain sf may be all you need there.

Related Terms