Sforzando
A sudden burst of force on one note or chord — the attack, not the whole note
Related
Sforzando puts a sudden force on a single note or chord, written sfz or sf. It depends on an extremely fast onset: arm weight dropping in an instant on the piano, bow speed and pressure together on strings, a hard tongue stroke in wind playing.
The colour is a sharp, bright attack, after which the sound decays according to the instrument; sfz is therefore a shape, not a whole beat turned up. The usual mistake is "sforzando means louder": it often occurs inside a soft passage, where the total volume stays modest and only the burst stands out. Compared with it, rinforzando is better heard as a reinforced, sustained push.
Sources
- 突强记号与邻近力度记号的区别，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Sforzando"；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.