Which term indicates gradually getting louder?

• A. Diminuendo
• B. Staccato
• C. Crescendo
• D. Fortissimo

Answer: (C)

Graded dynamic growth in music is shown by a term that means gradually getting louder. This direction in a passage signals performers to increase volume smoothly over the indicated span, often marked in the score with the word itself or a widening hairpin sign. It captures how the sound should swell from softer levels to stronger ones as the phrase unfolds.

The other terms describe different things. Fortissimo just designates a very loud dynamic level but doesn’t specify an approach to get there. Staccato refers to how notes are articulated—short and detached—not to changing volume. Diminuendo (or decrescendo) would be the opposite idea, gradually getting softer.

So, the term that best fits “gradually getting louder” is the one that explicitly instructs the music to swell in volume over time.