Dolce

Dolce means "sweet". In a score, usually printed in italics below the staff, it asks for a gentle, tender, warm sound. It is an expression word, not a dynamic: it tells you how the sound should feel, not exactly how loud it is. In practice, dolce passages are usually soft, and the word often appears beside p.

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Dolce in real music

Dolce is one of the most common expression words in piano music. Chopin marks his Prelude in A major, Op. 28 No. 7, dolce (Prelude in A major study), and Burgmüller uses it in La Candeur, including dolce e poco rit., sweetly and slowing a little (La Candeur study). The superlative dolcissimo means "very sweetly".

How to play dolce

• Use a warm, round tone. At the piano, play from close to the keys with the pads of the fingers rather than the tips, and let the arm stay relaxed.
• Connect the line. Dolce melodies are usually legato: let each note lead smoothly into the next.
• Avoid accents. A sudden bump in the melody breaks the sweetness. Shape the phrase with gentle swells instead.
• Balance the hands. Keep the accompaniment softer than the melody so the tune floats on top.

A common confusion

Dolce is not the same as p. A dolce passage marked mf is still sweet, just fuller; a p passage without dolce might be soft but cool or mysterious. Read both words together. Our Match the terms: level 3 sheet defines dolce as "sweetly and gently".

The Musical terms & signs chart lists dolce with the other character words.