Mute (music) - Musical Directions For Muting

Musical Directions For Muting

The use of a mute is usually indicated in musical notation by the direction con sordino (often abbreviated con sord, sord, sordino). (Sordina, with plural sordine, is the strictly correct Italian term for mute as used on string instruments; but the forms con sordino, senza sordino, sordino via, etc., are much more commonly used as terms in music than the forms con sordina, senza sordine, etc.) The mute should be removed with the senza sordino (or senza sord, senza sordina, etc.) direction.

When written in English the directions, "mute" and "open" (for brass instruments) or "unmute" (for stringed instruments) are used.

The equivalent German terms for "with mute" ("mute on") are mit Dämpfer (Dämpfer auf), and for "without mute" ("mute off") are ohne Dämpfer (Dämpfer ab/weg).

In French music, the word for the mute is sourdine.

In the case of strings, mute-on and mute-off indications are often written into their parts by players in the form of signs. These are used as extra visual aids, and for when the printed notation may not be adequately salient. An example is Mahler's Symphony No. 4 in which mutes have to be put on and taken off frequently, and the printed directions are in German.