decrescendo
day-chreh-SHEN-doe
[Italian]
A directive to a performer to smoothly decrease the volume of the specific passage. This can be designated with the word decrescendo at the beginning of the passage or with the decrescendo symbol consisting of two horizontal lines that start apart at the left and come together to a point at the right. There is typically a dynamic mark at either end of the symbol indicating the desired volume before and after the decrescendo. This is often seen in its abbreviated form decresc. The symbol is often refered to as a hairpin or a wedge. This term is functionally the same as diminuendo and its abbreviations dim. and dimin.
