Meaning & use
poco
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Meaning
adverbnot comparable
A little or somewhat; an Italian word used in musical directions to soften another instruction.
Grammar: Appears before another direction: poco forte means a little loud.
Patterns
- poco allegro
- poco a poco
The score says poco allegro, so the tempo should be a little lively.
Play the passage poco forte, not at full volume.
The conductor asked for poco rubato in the slow section.
Common combinations
- poco a poco
- The music grows louder poco a poco, little by little.
- poco forte
- The strings play poco forte in bar four.
- poco più mosso
- The tempo becomes poco più mosso here.
- poco adagio
- The movement begins poco adagio.
- poco ritardando
- Add a poco ritardando before the final chord.
Synonyms and how they differ
- slightly
- Slightly is the ordinary English equivalent and works outside music.
- a little
- A little is everyday speech, while poco appears in scores.
- somewhat
- Somewhat is more general and less exact than the musical poco.
Opposites
Word family
- poco a poco phrase
- little by little
- molto adverb
- very or much, the opposite instruction
Commonly confused: poco or più?
poco vs più
Più means more, so più mosso asks for more movement; poco means a little.
Practice
In the direction 'poco allegro', the word poco asks the player to take the tempo ___.
Choose one answer.
Poco means a little, so poco allegro is a little fast, or somewhat lively. Extremely fast would need a stronger word.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “poco”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.