Diminuendo
Gradually getting softer — often abbreviated dim.
Related
Diminuendo (dim.) means gradually softer, often drawn as a closing ">" hairpin. It usually closes a phrase, echoes a gesture or lets an emotion recede, letting the music "land".
It differs from ritardando: diminuendo changes only volume, not speed; the two often appear together but are different things. The usual mistake is to let it vanish suddenly — a good diminuendo has direction and afterglow, the sound stays "there" while growing softer.
Read deeper → crescendo
Sources
- diminuendo 的记谱与演奏，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Dynamics"；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.