VocabularyBasePractice words

Meaning & use

forte

adverb, adjective, noun·Academic

Last updated

UK/ˈfɔːteɪ/
US/ˈfɔːrteɪ/

Meanings

  1. adverbnot comparablemusic

    A direction in sheet music telling players to perform loudly.

    Grammar: Written as f in a score and placed before the passage: play this forte.

    Patterns

    • play something forte
    • marked forte

    The strings come in forte after the quiet opening.

    Play the final chord forte, then fade.

    The conductor wanted the brass to play forte at bar 20.

  2. adjectivebefore a nounmusic

    Loud or strongly played, describing a note or passage.

    Grammar: Often appears before a noun: a forte passage.

    Patterns

    • a forte passage

    The forte section contrasts with the soft opening.

    She struggled with the forte passages on the quiet piano.

    The piece ends with a loud forte chord.

  3. nounusually singular

    Something a person does especially well, a natural strength.

    Grammar: Usually singular and possessive: cooking is not my forte. Often pronounced like fort in American English.

    Patterns

    • something is someone's forte

    Public speaking is not her forte.

    Solving puzzles has always been his forte.

    Her forte was getting teams to cooperate.

Common combinations

play forte
Play forte here, then drop to piano.
forte passage
The forte passage startled the listeners.
mezzo forte
The cellos enter at mezzo forte.
fortissimo
The finale builds to fortissimo.
not my forte
Math is not my forte.

Synonyms and how they differ

loud
Loud describes any high volume, while forte is a specific instruction written for performers.
strong
Strong in musical terms can describe character or tone, while forte means only a loud volume.
fortissimo
Fortissimo means very loud, so it is stronger than forte.

Opposites

pianosoft

Word family

fortissimo adverb
very loudly, marked ff
mezzo forte adverb
moderately loud, marked mf
forte-piano adverb
loud and then immediately soft
fortepiano noun
an early type of piano

Commonly confused: forte or fort?

forte vs fort

A fort is a strong building for defense. The strength noun forte is sometimes said like fort in American English, but the music direction is spoken with two syllables.

Practice

In sheet music, the letter f above a passage means players should perform it ____.

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “forte”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Your sentence stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.

Explore more words