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A slanted lower-case p below the staff, instructing quiet playing.
Also known as: Piano marking, Quiet marking
p means quiet, from the Italian piano. It is relative, not absolute: p in a solo whisper and p in a full orchestra are entirely different volumes, and no notation makes them comparable.
Instructs the performer to play quietly, from the Italian piano.
Contexts: Music
Is repeated for greater quiet — pp, ppp and beyond — a scale with no defined limit at either end.
Contexts: Music
States a relative rather than an absolute volume. The same marking in a solo and in a full orchestra are different sound levels, and nothing in the notation makes them comparable.
Contexts: Music
A lower-case letter p in a heavy slanted serif face, with a rounded bowl and a descender below the writing line.
Quiet and loud, the two poles of the dynamic scale.