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A passage for a single performer, or the featured instrument in a concerto.
Solo passages showcase individual instruments. When writing a solo, consider the instrument's best register, characteristic tone colors, and technical capabilities. Reduce the accompaniment so the soloist can be heard without strain. In orchestral writing, "solo" above a section player's part means one desk only.
The oboe solo opening Dvořák's "New World" Symphony slow movement — one of the most famous orchestral solos.
Solo is one of 228 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary, where every definition is written around how composers actually use the word.
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