Musical Ornaments

 What is an ornament?

In architecture, ornamentation is used to decorate and give interest and character

to a building.

In music, ornaments are used in much the same way.

They’re not often essential to the melody of a piece but are used to “show off”
and provide a different layer of musical complexity.

 Types of Ornaments

There are lots of different types of ornaments that you’re likely to see when
reading and playing music.

In terms of music theory though there are few more common ones you’ll need
to know about which are:

• Turns
• Mordents
• Trills
• Acciaccaturas
• Appoggiaturas
  Turns

The symbol for a turn ornament is a curled S shape turned on its side and it sits
above a note on the stave.

Turn

There are two types of turns :

• Regular turns
• Inverted turns

(1). Regular turns

When you see this symbol it means that you should actually split the note into
four different notes.

Regular turns

So if we had a crotchet turn we would play four semiquavers starting with the
one above the main note, the main note, then the note below followed by the
last note which is the main note again.
(2). Inverted turns

There are two ways to write an inverted turn. Both mean the same thing.

The way to write an inverted turn is just like a regular turn but with a line
straight through the middle.

The second way is to draw the turn upside down or ‘inverted’.

Inverted turns

Inverted turns start on the note below the main note, followed by the main note,
then the note above, finishing on the original note again.

 Mordents

The mordent is a short ornament that means you should quickly alternate
between the main note and the note above or below.

You draw a mordent by using a short wavy line :

A mordent
Like turns, there are two types of mordent:

• Mordents (or upper mordents)

• Lower mordents

(1). Mordents (upper mordents)

An upper mordent is made up of three notes, starting on the main note, going
up to the note above and then back to the main note again.

The first two notes are played very quickly and are usually demisemiquavers :

Mordent

(2). Lower mordents

A lower mordent is almost exactly the same as an upper mordent but instead of
alternating to the note above the main note they go down to the note below.

Lower mordent

Lower mordents have a line straight through the middle of the wavy line (like
an inverted turn).
  Trills

A trill or ‘shake‘ symbol indicates that you should alternate between the given
note (the principal note) and the note above it (the auxiliary note) quickly and
repeatedly.

It’s like a mordent but you alternate a lot more times.

The symbol for a trill is to write the letters ‘tr’ above a note:

A trill

When it comes to writing and playing trills there are a few rules to follow but
they depend on the context of the music that you’re playing.

The general rules these days are that:

• You should begin the trill on the principal note

• You should end the trill on the principal note

But that wasn’t always the case.

In music written before around 1800 it was the convention to begin a trill on the
note above the principal note.
here’s an example of a trill on a crotchet and what you’d play now:

Trills (post 1800s)

Because trills should always finish on the principal note, it’s very common to
add a triplet on the last notes.

Trills before the 1800s

Nowadays trills should start on the principal note, but, if the music was written
before 1800 you’d likely start a trill on the note :

Trills pre 1800s

Sometimes trills will end with a turn going to the note below the principal note
but it depends on the context of the music you’re playing as that will often
determine which conventions you follow.
  Acciaccatura

The acciaccatura is also known as a ‘grace note‘ or a ‘crushed note‘ and is

very common in lots of classical music.

It is written like this as a very small note with a line through its stem :

Acciaccatura

Acciaccaturas are to be played as quickly as possible before the main note.

They’re written in front.

Essentially they’re played as a demisemiquaver which is subtracted from the

original value of the note. It’s written in front.

 Appoggiatura

An appoggiatura is another type of grace note and is very similar to an

acciaccatura.

The difference between them is that it’s written without a line through its stem
and tail.

Appoggiatura
Generally, appoggiaturas are played one note above or below the main note.
They’re in front.

They should also be held for half the value of the principal note.

As you can see in the example above, an appoggiatura in front of a minim

should be played as if it were a crotchet.

But, if you had an appoggiatura in front of a crotchet it would be played as if it

were a quaver.

Appoggiatura and what you’d actually play