Poco a poco

Little by little

“Poco a poco” consists of “poco” (“little”, from Latin “paucus”) and the preposition “a”. Together it means “little by little, gradually”; Italian has the equivalent form “a poco a poco”, also “gradatamente”. On its own the phrase says nothing about volume or tempo; it determines only how the change happens.

Poco a poco in the score

In the three pieces from the archive, the phrase goes with “cresc.”, before or after it.

Voice and piano

• Après un rêve Gabriel Fauré · voice and piano, with chords for guitar · 2 pages

  On page 2, above bar 27 in the vocal line, is “cresc. poco a poco” (in italics), 3/4 time, three flats. In bar 31 the voice has f.

• Les matelots Gabriel Fauré, op. 2 No. 2 · voice and piano, with chords for guitar · 3 pages

  On page 1, in bar 11, “poco a poco cresc.” (in italics) is written above the vocal line and also above the right hand of the piano, 3/4 time, three flats. Bar 16 has f.

Orchestra

• Symphony No. 7 in A major, 2nd movement: Allegretto Ludwig van Beethoven, op. 92 · score · 54 pages

  On page 8, in bar 51, “cresc. poco a poco” (in italics) is written in the five lowest staves, the strings. The first violin also has “ten.” and p. 2/4 time, no key signature. The other staves rest at this point.

In Fauré it comes after the “cresc.” in “Après un rêve” and before it in “Les matelots”. The goal is not stated, but in both songs an f follows a few bars later. In Beethoven the direction appears in all five string parts at once.

Poco a poco and crescendo

A plain “cresc.” asks you to get louder. “Poco a poco” adds that this happens gradually and over a longer time: anyone who uses up a lot of volume too early has no build-up left at the goal.

Common mistakes

• Getting loud too early: Then the build-up is used up before the goal.
• Stepwise instead of gradual: Poco a poco means “little by little”, not jumps from bar to bar.
• Reading the phrase as a volume of its own: It names no dynamic, but the manner of the change.