Crescendo hairpin

A long horizontal wedge opening to the right, meaning gradually louder.

Also known as: Crescendo, Hairpin, Sideways triangle music, Less than sign music

MusicalEveryday & digitalStandard profile

Meanings

An opening wedge means get louder across its length. Its width is not a volume — the drawing shows where the change happens, not how loud it becomes.

Common modern usageVerified fact
Instructs a gradual increase in volume over the passage it spans.
Contexts: Music
Common modern usageVerified fact
Marks the extent of the change by its length: where it begins and ends is the instruction, and its width carries no meaning.
Contexts: Music
Common modern usageVerified fact
Is written as the word cresc. instead where the passage is long, which means the same thing.
Contexts: Music

Two long straight lines meeting at a point on the left and diverging gradually to the right, drawn below the staff.

Commonly confused with: Less-than sign
Both are horizontal wedges opening rightward, in unrelated fields.
Opposite of: Diminuendo hairpin
The same wedge reversed, for the opposite change.

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references.
Historical originModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useHigh confidence: High confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references.

Dynamics (music)
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for what a mark instructs a performer to do and for uncontested history, never for a claim that any body defines staff notation.
Tempo
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for what a mark instructs a performer to do and for uncontested history, never for a claim that any body defines staff notation.

Last reviewed 2026-07-31

Meanings

An opening wedge means get louder across its length. Its width is not a volume — the drawing shows where the change happens, not how loud it becomes.

Common modern usageVerified fact

Instructs a gradual increase in volume over the passage it spans.

Contexts: Music

Common modern usageVerified fact

Marks the extent of the change by its length: where it begins and ends is the instruction, and its width carries no meaning.

Contexts: Music

Common modern usageVerified fact

Is written as the word cresc. instead where the passage is long, which means the same thing.

Contexts: Music

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references.
Historical originModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useHigh confidence: High confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references.

Sources

Dynamics (music)
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for what a mark instructs a performer to do and for uncontested history, never for a claim that any body defines staff notation.
Tempo
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for what a mark instructs a performer to do and for uncontested history, never for a claim that any body defines staff notation.

Last reviewed 2026-07-31