my student today had theory grade 5 exam,she said that an Italian word she even never see before.this is "sob.p"I checked the Oxford dictionary also cant found.anybody know this?thanks

Are you sure it was sob. p ??

If it is sub. p that would be subito piano, which means suddenly soft.

Maggie

The only thing that I can think of that sop. could be an abbreviation of is sopra, an Italian word meaning above; used sometimes in piano music to indicate that the left hand is playing above the right hand (i.e. hands crossed) but I think it's use in this context is reasonably rare. The other way sopra is used is "come sopra" meaning as above. But of course there are two problems with this; the first being where does the p come into it above softly doesn't really make much sense... and I think that question would be a little cruel for a grade 5 exam, they wouldn't do it.

I think that the more likely explanation is what maggiemay says: perhaps your student has not remembered the question accurately and it was sub. p, which makes more sense!