Niente (pronounced as /it/), also called quasi niente pronounced as /it/, is a musical dynamic often used at the end of a piece to direct the performer to fade the music away to little more than a bare whisper, normally gradually with a diminuendo,[1] al niente.[2] It is often written as "" or "". It is also used to direct the performer to fade into a note without any articulation at the beginning of the note, known as dal niente (from nothing): "".
Niente is distinct from a rest "in that [during niente] the musician is engaged in making sound, but so softly that the sound can not be heard."[3]