Crescendo and decrescendo
Two lines opening out from a point mean crescendo: get gradually louder. Lines closing to a point mean decrescendo or diminuendo: get gradually softer. The signs are often called hairpins.
Easily confused with
How to read it
The crescendo sign is a horizontal wedge of two long lines with its point at the left; the decrescendo sign is the same turned the other way. The same instructions are also written as words, cresc. and dim. or decresc. Crescendo means a gradual increase, not simply loud. An opening hairpin followed by a closing one over a single long note means swell and fade again; in singing this is called messa di voce, and the combined sign a swell.
Also searched as: diminuendo, hairpin.
Look-alikes
A short closing hairpin over one note looks like an Accent sign (>). The accent is a small mark by a single note; the hairpins are drawn with long lines.
The first crescendo sign in England
Stainer and Barrett’s dictionary (1898) credits Matthew Locke with the first English use of the crescendo sign, in 1676.
Read next
- Next in Music symbolsFermataA fermata, an arc over a dot, means hold: the note or rest under it is held longer than its written value, for as long as the performer or conductor chooses. It is also called a pause or hold.
- The same shape in Blueprint symbolsStairsA staircase, seen from above. The arrow shows the direction of travel from this floor, labelled with the direction and the number of risers.
More music symbols
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with arrows or lines.
Sources
- Music Notation and Terminology, Karl W. Gehrkens, 1914, A. S. Barnes Company (Project Gutenberg), Chapter V, §62; Chapter XIII, §124, §126
- Primer of Facts about Music, M. G. Evans, 1909, Theodore Presser Co. (Internet Archive, University of Toronto), Q. 157
- Stainer and Barrett's Dictionary of Musical Terms, John Stainer and W. A. Barrett, new and revised edition, 1898, Novello (Internet Archive, Cornell University Library), Crescendo; Diminuendo
- SMuFL: Dynamics, Standard Music Font Layout, glyph table U+E520–U+E54F, W3C Music Notation Community Group, U+E53E
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed September 26, 2026. How we research
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