Poco a Poco

Poco a poco is Italian for ‘little by little’. As a modifier it instructs the performer to make a change gradually — most commonly applied to crescendos and diminuendos, but also to tempo changes and other directions.

The phrase emphasizes the gradualness of the change. Poco a poco crescendo means a slow, sustained crescendo over a long span — not a quick swell. Poco a poco accelerando means a tempo increase that builds across many bars rather than a few. The implication is patience: the change should not arrive too soon.

Poco a poco is essential for shaping long structural builds. Mahler’s symphonic crescendos often span dozens of bars and are explicitly marked poco a poco. The marking signals to the performer: don’t rush the change; let it unfold.

Italian, ‘little by little’ — poco (‘little’, from Latin paucus) + a + poco. The repetition is idiomatic.

Resist the temptation to arrive early. A poco a poco crescendo should still be relatively quiet at the midpoint — the bulk of the growth happens in the final third. Map out the curve before performing.