più

American  

[pyoo] / pyu /

adverb

Music.

1. more.

   più allegro.

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più British  

/ pjuː /

adverb

1. music (in combination) more (quickly, softly, etc)

   più allegro

   più mosso

   più lento

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Etymology

Origin of più

1715–25; < Italian < Latin plus; see plus

Explanation

If you see piu in your sheet music, you know that you have to do more of whatever comes after it — more loudly if it's piu forte, more quietly if it's piu piano, and more quickly if it's piu allegro. Più is Italian for "more." It can be part of all sorts of instructions in music. In addition to those mentioned above, you might see it in più lento, "more slowly," or più espressivo, "more expressively." If it's after poco, which means "a little," then you need to do just a little more of whatever the main instruction is; for example, poco più animato means "a little more lively."

Example Sentences

And the existence of a rarely performed mezzo version of the climactic aria “Cessa di più resistere” lets Bartoli trade off verses with the agile young tenor Edgardo Rocha.

From New York Times • Aug. 14, 2022

Either way, as the statue said to Don Giovanni: Ah! tempo più non v’è.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2020

By contrast, Figaro gets two of the greatest arias in the history of opera—the bluff, swaggering “Se vuol ballare” and “Non più andrai”—both in the first of the four acts.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 8, 2014

His dramatic flair, warmly focused voice, and seemingly effortless technique — magisterial in the rarely performed aria "Cessa di più resistere" — justified all the hype.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 17, 2011

L’ora sesta era, che l’ocaso un sole Aveva fatto, e l’altro sur se in locho Ati più da far fati, che parole.

From The Browning Cyclop?dia A Guide to the Study of the Works of Robert Browning by Berdoe, Edward