Poco

What it means

Poco means “little, a little” and weakens the word it is joined to. Poco più mosso calls for a small acceleration, poco ritardando a slight slowing, poco forte a volume just under forte. The word never stands alone.

Its counterpart is molto or assai, “very.” Between them and the unmodified base word a simple scale results: poco – without addition – molto.

Poco is to be distinguished from the phrase poco a poco, “little by little,” which designates not the degree but the course of a change. Un poco has the same meaning as poco and is often used when the word stands before another addition.

In the notation

The word stands in italics together with the base word, above the staff for tempo and performance markings, below the staff for dynamic markings. It appears especially often with tempo changes, because small changes are often meant there and are hard to notate.

Musical use

Weakening additions allow fine gradations without introducing new terms. In the music of the nineteenth century, in which tempo and expression are increasingly shaped flexibly, poco is especially frequent: many tempo changes are explicitly marked as slight, so that coherence is preserved.

The superlative form pochissimo means very little. Un poco has the same meaning. Poco più mosso means somewhat more moved, poco meno mosso somewhat calmer. The doubling poco a poco, by contrast, means gradually. Bear in mind that poco is not to be overlooked: it calls for a distinct...

Performance practice

Take the addition seriously: a small change should stay small. The most common exaggeration is a poco ritardando that sounds like a full ritardando. Compare the degree with what would be meant without the addition, and take distinctly less. And take care that the change is nonetheless audible — little does not mean not at all.