Solo
Solo (Italian “alone”) is the name for a piece or passage performed by a single voice or a single instrument, with or without accompaniment. When “solo” appears in a part, the player steps out of the group. The counterpart is tutti.
- Word
- Italian solo, “alone”
- Meaning
- a single performer, usually with an accompanying ensemble
- In the part
- a passage for one player or one singer
- Counterpart
- tutti, everyone together
- Plural
- solos or soli
Alone, but not without accompaniment
A solo is an individual performance. It means a musical performance by a single player or singer, usually together with an ensemble that accompanies. The word can mean a whole piece performed by only one instrument or one singing voice alone, or a passage within a larger piece in which someone steps out of the group and stands out expressively. In the classical orchestra “solo” is the opposite of “tutti”, above all among the string instruments, which otherwise all play the same part within their groups.
Solo over accompaniment
The upper voice (marked) is the solo: it has the lively melody. The lower voice lies beneath it in long notes and accompanies. The example is invented.
Solo as an instruction
In the score, “solo” usually appears as a word in a part. It marks sections to be performed by a single voice or a single instrument. What matters, then, is which line the word refers to: it does not take the whole orchestra out of the music.
| Solo | Tutti | |
|---|---|---|
| Who plays | a single voice or a single instrument | everyone together |
| In the orchestra | one player steps out of the group | each group plays the same part |
| Example in the archive | Vivaldi, Spring, bars 13 to 15: one violin each time | Vivaldi, Spring, bars 1 to 3: all five staves play |
In the sheet music archive
The archive offers two scores in which the word is actually printed.
The word “Solo” in the score
-
Der Frühling (La Primavera) Antonio Vivaldi, from: The Four Seasons, op. 8 No. 1, RV 269 · score · 23 pages
On page 2 a new section begins at letter B in bar 13. There the word “Solo” appears three times beneath the staff: in bar 13 at the Violino Principale, in bar 14 at the Violino Secondo, in bar 15 at the Violino Primo. Viola and bass rest from bar 14 on, and in bars 14 and 15 only violins play.
-
Sinfonie Nr. 9 e-Moll, 2. Satz: Largo Antonín Dvořák, From the New World, op. 95 · score · 18 pages
On page 1, in bar 1, above the line shared by horns III and IV, “Solo IV” is printed in bold, at ppp in the Largo (quarter note = 52). In this bar clarinets, bassoons, trumpets and trombones also play. The marking belongs to this horn line and identifies it as the solo of the fourth horn.
The two passages show two kinds of solo: in Vivaldi the violins detach themselves from the tutti one after another and show off; in Dvořák the marking concerns a single player within a divided horn part.
Common mistakes
- Equating “solo” with “alone in the whole piece”: Usually others keep playing and accompany.
- Applying the word to all parts: It applies to the line it is written on.
- Thinking of solo only as a whole piece: It can also be a short passage within a piece.
Continue on Maikstrings
Related terms
ConcertoConcerto grossoOrchestraEnsembleAccompanimentVoice / partSymphonyScore
Editor: Maik Krohm · reviewed on 3 October 2026
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