Slightly

As Printed on a Score

Appears inside English directions, before the word it moderates — slightly slower, slightly broader, slightly detached — and shares that word’s scope and position: above the staff for tempo and character, below it with dynamics. The Italian counterpart is poco.

Also spelled: slight

How Composers Use It

A quiet, precise modifier: slightly slower asks for a shade of difference, not a new tempo, which suits phrase-end easings and small changes of colour. Because the amount is left to the player, give a metronome figure if an ensemble must agree on it. One modifier per direction reads best; slightly a little slower says the same thing twice.

Related Terms