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Poco A Poco

Musical Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Poco a poco means gradually or little by little, directing a change to unfold step by step.

Detailed Definition
This direction asks performers to make a transition so slowly that no single moment seems to cause it, even though the cumulative effect is clear. In poetry, poco a poco can describe the gradual development of an image, argument, emotion, or formal disturbance. A poem may move little by little from tenderness to anger, from certainty to doubt, or from literal scene to symbolic significance, trusting accumulation rather than sudden declaration.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Poco a poco, the dawn unfastens the dark” makes the image develop little by little; Repeating “poco a poco” at the start of successive lines can create a gradual emotional change; A poem about healing might move from “poco a poco” to “the heart opens,” turning musical direction into narrative structure; Shortening the pauses between repeated “poco a poco” phrases can suggest that change is slowly becoming momentum
Additional Notes
Poco a poco means “little by little” and signals a gradual musical change, such as becoming louder, softer, faster, or slower. In poetry, it can describe a speaker’s mood or image developing in small increments. Related directions include crescendo, diminuendo, accelerando, and ritardando.
Also Known As
Gradually
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