Meaning & use
più mosso
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phrasemusic
An Italian instruction in music telling performers to play somewhat faster than the speed they have been using.
Grammar: Appears as a marking in the score; it can also be used as a noun for such a passage.
Patterns
- play something più mosso
- a più mosso section
At bar 40 the composer writes più mosso, so the orchestra gently picks up the pace.
The conductor asked the choir to take the final verse più mosso.
The piece slows in the middle and then returns to a più mosso ending.
Common combinations
- marked più mosso
- The passage is marked più mosso, so the pianist moves ahead.
- play più mosso
- Play più mosso after the pause.
- più mosso section
- The più mosso section brings the energy back.
- più mosso ending
- The più mosso ending thrilled the audience.
Synonyms and how they differ
- accelerando
- Accelerando asks for a gradual speeding up over time, whereas più mosso asks for a faster pace that is adopted at a particular point.
- quicker
- This is the everyday English word and does not carry the formal musical instruction that più mosso does.
Opposites
Word family
- mosso adjective
- moved, lively, in Italian musical terms
- meno mosso phrase
- less quickly; the opposite instruction
- molto mosso phrase
- much faster
Commonly confused: più mosso or accelerando?
più mosso vs accelerando
Accelerando means gradually getting faster; più mosso means play faster from here, usually as a clear step.
Practice
What does the marking più mosso tell a musician to do?
Choose one answer.
Più means more and mosso means moved or lively, so the instruction is to speed up. Slower would be meno mosso, which is the tempting opposite.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “più mosso”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.