Mezzo Piano (MP) – Literally "half" quiet, moderately quiet
(Pronounced met-soh pee-an-oh)
We can remember this if we deal with each word separately.
Mezzo (M.) – Half
(Pronounced met-soh)
They met to sew (mezzo) exactly half way between their houses.
Note: Mezzo is the Italian word for "half", "middle" or "medium" and is often abbreviated to M.
Now we can learn piano:
Piano (P.) – Quietly
(Pronounced pee-an-oh)
Note: Piano is Italian and in music it means play quietly.
The tiny mouse played the piano so quietly so that she didn't wake anyone up.
Note: often abbreviated to P.
Now we can put the definitions of mezzo and piano together as
Mezzo = half piano = quiet
Mezzo piano = half quiet
Examples of mezzo piano in a sentence
He rarely ventured above a mezzo piano dynamic.
Think of a music so sure of its power that it need not raise its voice above mezzo piano.
The choir master had his choristers sing mezzo piano to conserve their voices.



