Meaning & use
diminuendo
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountablemusic
A gradual reduction in how loudly music is played or sung, or the passage where this happens.
Grammar: Can be a single passage (a long diminuendo), with plurals diminuendos or diminuendi.
Patterns
- a diminuendo in something
- play a diminuendo
The violins end the movement with a long diminuendo that fades to silence.
Her voice made a delicate diminuendo on the last phrase.
The conductor asked the choir for a smoother diminuendo at bar 20.
nouncountablefigurative
Any gradual fading or lessening of intensity, not only in music.
Grammar: A figurative use, often with of: a diminuendo of excitement.
Patterns
- a diminuendo of something
The party ended in a slow diminuendo of laughter and goodbyes.
After the storm, there was a diminuendo of wind and rain.
adverbnot comparablemusic
Gradually getting quieter, used as an instruction in written music.
Grammar: An instruction in a score, often abbreviated dim.: play diminuendo.
Patterns
- play diminuendo
The score says to play the final chord diminuendo.
Sing the last line diminuendo, letting the sound melt away.
Word forms
| plural | diminuendos |
|---|
Common combinations
- gradual diminuendo
- A gradual diminuendo closed the piece.
- long diminuendo
- The cello held a long diminuendo to the end.
- crescendo and diminuendo
- The music rises in a crescendo and falls in a diminuendo.
- mark a diminuendo
- The composer marked a diminuendo over the last four bars.
- play diminuendo
- Please play diminuendo through the final section.
Synonyms and how they differ
- decrescendo
- Decrescendo means the same in music, but diminuendo is the more common term in scores.
- fade
- Fade is an everyday word for something getting quieter, while diminuendo is the formal musical term.
- tapering off
- Tapering off is general and can describe anything that gradually lessens, whereas diminuendo is mostly tied to sound.
Opposites
Word family
- diminish verb
- to become or make smaller or less
- diminution noun
- a reduction in size, amount or importance
- diminished adjective
- made smaller or less, also a music term for certain chords
- diminutive adjective
- very small
Commonly confused: diminuendo or decrescendo?
diminuendo vs decrescendo
Decrescendo is a near-equivalent term, though diminuendo is used more often in printed music.
Practice
A composer writes diminuendo above a passage. What should the players do?
Choose one answer.
Diminuendo means gradually quieter. Gradually louder is crescendo, and the other options do not relate to volume.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “diminuendo”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.