piano

As a dynamic marking, piano (p) means soft. It is one of the core dynamics in music, calling for a reduced volume that is still clearly audible. The Italian word piano also gave its name to the pianoforte — the instrument designed specifically to play both soft (piano) and loud (forte). Playing softly with a beautiful, controlled tone is often more difficult than playing loudly. A quiet passage must still project to the back of a concert hall, maintaining clarity and musical intention. Debussy once said that music is the silence between the notes, and the art of playing piano relies on making those quiet sounds count.