soli

Soli is a musical directive used in scores to indicate that a small group of players should perform a solo passage or a featured line for that instrument family, rather than a single performer or the entire section. The term is the Italian plural of solo and is used in orchestral, band, and jazz notation.

In practice, soli designates a portion where a subset of a section (for example the violins or horns) is to play the solo line, while the remainder of the section may accompany or rest. The exact number of players designated is usually implied by the context, the score, or by a preceding instruction such as "violin soli" or "horns soli." It is common for the score to indicate "soli" with a bracket or cue showing which players are included.

In composition, soli can appear in various textures: a string soli may present a melodic line in unison or with divided parts, a wind or brass soli may feature a timbral highlight, and in jazz or film music, a soli passage may involve collective improvisation or a harmonized group solo by the designated section.

Etymology: from Italian, plural of solo; the term is used widely in Western musical notation to designate group solo passages.