Questions tagged [ornaments]
Ornaments or embellishments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to carry the overall line of the melody (or harmony), but serve instead to decorate or "ornament" that line.
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Different versions of mordents in Bach Invention No. 1 In C Major, BWV 772
I was playing Bach Invention 1 when my sister told me that I was playing it wrong.
When I learnt this piece like 10 years ago, my sheet looked like this.
But my sister showed me her music sheet from ...
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How did Victorian Christmas carolers sing Christmas carols?
Do we have any idea of how Victorian Christmas carolers actually sang Christmas carols? What chords did they use, did they use ornaments etc, were there special ways that they ended the Christmas ...
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Did Nicolas Gombert compose a clean change of note or slides as endings in his motets?
A member of the Facebook group Barbershop Harmony said that in live performances of Gombert motets, the Bass will randomly drop an octave on the last chord, within one syllable, whilst the other ...
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Acciaccatura vs Appoggiatura in Beethoven
While studying the 2nd movement of Beethoven's Sonata Op.90, I found these appoggiaturas in bars 28-29.
This is the Henle edition (which I find to be one of the most reliable editions for Beethoven); ...
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Why do notes not add up to the bar in this example by Couperin?
Consider following excerpt from the beginning of Couperin's Leçon des ténèbres pour le mercredi saint:
I noticed that the note values don't always add up in a bar.
Cases (indicated in the figure):
...
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Questions about mordents and trills (piano)
The difference between the symbols of a mordent and a trill is just a tiny vertical bar. Sometimes it could be misread when the print is blurred or too small. Is there a general rule, from the context,...
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Term for One person performing a whole Arrangement with nothing else accompanying (As a Cover)
Like how "Unplugged Version" means the Original Song has been performed with 0 usage of technology-stuff (other than Microphone) [No editing, Acoustic Instruments only, No Faders, No ...
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What is a line prall?
I am composing a melody for piano in Musescore, and after experimenting on a particular note with various ornaments (i.e. trills, mordents, etc.) I decided to use a 'line prall'. It sounded good, so I ...
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How can I make my D gracenotes shorter and crisper?
On the Great Highland Bagpipes, the D gracenote can be difficult to play as short and crisp as the G gracenote, especially in contexts such as the tachem. Aside from just consciously trying to play ...
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What does tying an acciaccatura to the principal note with a slur imply?
Note that this is not a duplicate of this question, which asks for a grace note tied to the same principal note. This is more generally about tying grace notes (specifically acciaccaturas) to any ...
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Is this an appoggiatura?
Would you call the A going to G in the second group of 16th notes here an appoggiatura? It seems to fit the definition because it is approached by a leap. However, what makes me feel unsure is that ...
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What is this type of ornament, and how should it be played?
An appoggiatura is a grace note type ornament, that precedes main note it slurred to. When it is played, it takes some time from the main note.
An appoggiatura looks like this : and should be ...
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Is it correct to call this figure a “turn figure” in Haydn's Surprise Symphony?
In the IB Music Revision Guide, the author says that a cadence in the second movement of Haydn's Surprise Symphony (end of the first statement of the theme) is "decorated with a turn figure" (see ...
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note cancelling or what is it called?
i came across a sign on my notation where a note is being played that is G after that there is a note in between e that is open but we first play it and then hammer on it... what is it called ?
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Strange Ornamental Symbol on Bach Piece
This is from the marvelous andante from Bach’s organ trio sonata BWV 528. What does this symbol mean on the stave of the second keyboard? I am assuming it is ornamental. Is it just a strange version ...
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Music theory-Ornaments-TURN [closed]
Which of the given options would be correct for the turn ornament shown in the piece of music.
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Why is there so much dispute about how ornaments are supposed to be played in classical music?
It seems like almost every piece with an ornament has some argument as to how it is supposed to be played. For example, in my Alfred's edition of Fantaisie-impromptu, the footnote claims that the ...
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Weird acciaccatura (?) notation in Chopin's polonaise
I am not sure how to interpret the particular notation in Chopin's Op.53 Polonaise:
Here, we have a single (smaller font) Eb (just before the trill). I should interpret it as a grace note, but then ...
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Identifying piano notation symbol in Chopin Mazurka
I'm trying to identify what this symbol is (circled in pencil) in the sheet music for Mazurka no.4 op.17 by Chopin. It looks like two connected diamond shapes, and I can't find an explanation of it ...
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How to use Meend in Bansuri Playing
I am following tutorial to play Om Jai Jagdish Hare.
The gentleman says we can use Meend in Bansuri. He explains it is a soft way to go from one note to the next.
How would I do it.
The video ...
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Would an accidental in a mordant still be effective for the whole measure?
This is from Bach's Chromatic Fantasie and Fugue:
This would obviously be played D, C#, D. Let's say that there was a C on the same octave later in that measure. Would the C be sharp?
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Need help understanding the double sharp turn in Chopin's prelude in e minor [duplicate]
I need help understanding why the notes in this turn are B-A#-Gx-A#.
I don't understand how the double sharp affects the turn. I would assume that instead of A# being the "base note" (for lack of a ...
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What's the meaning of this extra rest? [duplicate]
This is the first bar of F. W. Mecham Op 92 - American Patrol
Semiquaver triplet + quaver + quaver rest + quarter rest
1/8 + 1/8 + 1/8 + 1/4 = 2/4 + 1/8
...
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Ornaments in ABRSM theory, start on the note or the note above?
I know that depending on the era you can either start on the note or note above in some ornamentation such as a turn or mordent.
For Abrsm grade 8 theory do you start on the note or the note above so ...
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When would Bach start an ornament- just before the beat, or right on it? [duplicate]
In his table (see below) , all examples seem to start ON the beat, not before it.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Bach-ornamentguide.jpg
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Are grace notes ever notated with notes of exact duration?
I’m learning a new piece of music that has a couple of Grace notes in it which has led me to wonder if it had a unique use or were there other ways of writing the piece using, for example, a one ...
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Baroque mordent with leading “slur”?
I'm currently studying Bach's Harpsichord Concerto BWV 1052 on the piano and arrived at the second movement. In there, I noticed a mordent that I'm not all too sure how to play. Here's a picture, it's ...
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Two different approaches to the mordent in one piece in baroque? [duplicate]
I've got a question regarding the mordent over the two different notes with different realization in Bach's Partita No.4 Aria (as in the image). The first one starts from a note above while the second ...
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What does the plus (+) ornament mean?
I am learning a baroque piece on the recorder. Some notes have an unusual ornamentation symbol. How is a note with a plus sign over it played? It was suggested to play it as a mordent. Is that correct?...
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Unplayable turn in Beethoven sonata
Beethoven's piano sonata Op. 2 No. 3, first movement,
bars 179-180 (Henle edition).
The turn decorating each eighth note can be played literally.
Except for the one on bar 179's A sharp, because ...
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How to perform these ornaments?
How do you play the "opppsite" acciaccatura?
And what does it mean by Glissafter?
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Weird 16th notes (I think) in score, not sure how to count them / not sure of their value
I found this weird grouping of notes in a song I'm trying to learn and I want to understand why they are played the way they are. I can listen to the song and replicate it but I don't understand why ...
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Appoggiaturas not spelled out
Why are many simple appoggiaturas not spelled out?
E.g., a quarter with an 8th note appoggiatura which would give the same as two 8th notes.
One could notate many passages using appoggiaturas but ...
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Horizontal bar in trill fingering
I'm looking at the Henle edition of Bach's WTC, specifically at d-moll Fugue (BWV 851), and in the second measure I see a trill:
(This is András Schiff's fingering).
What is that horizontal bar over ...
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Difference between a mordent and an appoggiatura in Chopin's Waltz in A minor (op. posth.)
The following are bars 34 and 35 of Chopin's Waltz in A minor (op. posth.)
If I understand the notation correctly, the mordent in bar 34 should be played C#, D, C#. Why is it denoted differently than ...
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Grace notes: when are they played on the beat, and when are they played off?
Since my performance experience is mostly in music after 1850, and since my instrument very rarely has any grace notes, I've been mixed up for some time on how to play grace notes in different musical ...
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Reinforcing meter when dealing with alternating 1/8 and 1/16 notes and rests
Below is an excerpt from a not very known piece (in 4/4 time) that prominently features abuses ornament notes:
In an attempt to simplify the piece (which is full of similar ornamentation) while ...
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What's the difference between the two arpeggio symbols (default and upwards)?
What is the difference between the symbol in the upper-left corner (with no arrow) and the one next to it (with an upwards arrow)? Aren't the two the same?
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How to play this trill in Mozart's Piano Sonata 14 (K457)
How does one play this trill in this Mozart Sonata? Does it mean we play 3 notes (Eb, F, Eb) before the last two notes of the second bar? Or how many trills does one have to play?
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What are these small notated notes?
Does the size of the notes have any meaning or is this only for space purposes?
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J.S. Bach: Prelude #1 for well tempered clavier: mordent
In a book with this piece given to me there is a mordent in tact 34:
on the other hand when I downloaded the piece from the Internet, the mordent at this place was missing:
So, did it exist in the ...
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Appoggiatura and acciaccatura
Can you write the appoggiatura and acciaccatura after a note? I have always seen it before a note.
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Background music for Kids, looking for suggestions on instruments and ornaments
This piece of music is intended to be played seamlessly in an endless loop. The piece has easy to follow and memorable melodies with a bit of irreverence at the beginning and at the end but with a ...
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Upper turn Nocturne
Hi guys,
Anyone know the exact notes to play for this upper turn that is circled in red ?
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Piano notation for trilling just one note in a chord?
I have a piano chord (specifically a triad), and I want to trill the note at the top.
Is there any way to express this using musical notation? Also, if there is notation for this, how would I do it ...
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How long is an appoggiatura in triple time?
I am currently playing in a baroque group.
The question has arisen as to how long an appoggiatura should be in triple or compound meters.
According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
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Ornament Symbol for Triplet
I am writing a piece of music that has a lot of triplets used as ornaments. Is there a symbol like this:
that will be played as as a triplet on the note?
Example: note is G. With symbol over it, ...
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Interpretation of Bach's ornaments
In some of Bach's works, this ornament, which contains twelve 32nd notes, seems to start once the above three 16th note have stopped, basically playing them during the rest...
At least that's the way ...
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Beethovens pathetique 2nd movement
Need help with the notation in Beethovens Pathetique 2nd movement. Bars 20 and 21.How are these played? What notes are played forthe ornamentation.
Bar 20:
Bar 21:
