How to Play a Diminuendo

A diminuendo or decrescendo indicates a gradual softening in a piece of music. There are several ways in which a composer can indicate a diminuendo or decrescendo, however the effect is the same. A gradual softening of an instrument can convey emotion and even a sense of mystery to a piece of music. Accurately playing a piece of music requires paying attention to all dynamic markings, including diminuendos and crescendos.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Play your piece of music according to the written dynamic markings. Some pieces are played softly for affect and others are written to be played loudly for a different affect.
2. Look for an open hairpin mark indicating the beginning of a diminuendo. Your specific piece of music may have the words diminuendo or decrescendo or the abbreviations dim. or decresc. instead of a hairpin mark.
3. Begin decreasing the volume of your instrument with the first notes above and below the diminuendo mark.
4. Continue a gradual softening until you reach the closed end of the hairpin mark or the end of the words or abbreviations indicating a diminuendo or decrescendo. Dashes may also accompany the words or abbreviations if the gradual softening continues over a long period of time.

Tips & Warnings

• You may encounter a diminuendo or decrescendo that only lasts a bar or two, or you may come across one that lasts for an entire page. The length of the diminuendo varies greatly due to the length of the piece of music or the emotion that the composer is trying to convey.
• Diminuendos are often written following a crescendo, which indicates a gradual increase in volume. Crescendos are also notated with hairpins, however a crescendo's hairpin starts with a closed point and a diminuendo or decrescendo's hairpin ends with a closed point.