# Tacet (Latin, "it is silent")

Source: https://arcosounds.com/glossary/tacet

**Tacet is a marking in an orchestral part indicating that the instrument does not play for an entire movement or section, so no bars of rest are printed.**

It saves paper and page turns: rather than printing four hundred bars of rest, the part says "II. Andante, tacet". The player sits out the movement, and the marking is a reminder to count movements rather than bars.

Tacet al fine means silent for the remainder of the piece. Encountering it in a part is a small warning to check the programme order, because a movement off is also a movement in which it is easy to lose track of where the orchestra has got to.

It is distinct from a multi-bar rest, which is printed with a number and does need counting.

Canonical source: https://arcosounds.com/glossary/tacet