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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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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3answers
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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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1answer
50 views
How to perform these ornaments?
How do you play the "opppsite" acciaccatura?
And what does it mean by Glissafter?
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2answers
118 views
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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2answers
67 views
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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1answer
93 views
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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2answers
225 views
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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1answer
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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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2answers
581 views
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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1answer
207 views
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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4answers
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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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2answers
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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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2answers
835 views
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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0answers
67 views
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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1answer
170 views
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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1answer
480 views
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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vote
1answer
135 views
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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2answers
498 views
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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votes
3answers
434 views
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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2answers
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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:
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2answers
237 views
Mordants: Auxiliary note is a note that has been modified by an accidental earlier in the measure. What do I play?
I was under the impression that whenever you see a mordant or a trill, the auxiliary note is the next note up in the key signature.
But I'm a bit confused on how to proceed here. This is measure 57 ...
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3answers
566 views
How to play the turns in Muzio Clementi's Sonatina Op. 36 No. 4
I'm learning Muzio Clementi's Sonatina Opus 36, Number 4. In Andante con espressione, there are a number of turns as played in this video (it will take you to the correct time in the video). I had ...
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6answers
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What is the point in writing an appoggiatura?
An appoggiatura is a small grace note written to suspend the resolution of a chord. It takes half of the actual note's value, usually. So, why write that when it could be written out with ordinary ...
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5answers
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What does a mordent written to the left of a note mean?
In this arrangement of Wachet Auf, there are quite a few mordents sprinkled around, as well as trills and grace notes. I understand most of them, but in the middle of this excerpt,
right before the ...
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1answer
290 views
Trills in Bach with historical information
This is an old question, but I have issues with playing the tr's in Bach's wtc. His autograph instruction for embellishments (he gave to his son) indicated a trillo to be played without the ending ...
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1answer
901 views
What does an apostrophe on top of a note mean?
In my music (Trombone/Baritone), I see an apostrophe on top of a few notes. What does this mean?
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3answers
700 views
Ornaments in J. S. Bach's 4th prelude
Inverted mordents and turns are frequently used in the prelude No.4 of J.S. Bach in C-sharp minor. In what follows I assume the key of the piece is known.
My first question is related to the normal ...
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1answer
167 views
Grace note in Bar 20 of Chopin's Op. 10 No. 3
What is the correct interpretation of the ornament in bar 20 of Chopin's Etude Op. 10 No. 3 — that is, the final full bar below:
The recordings I've heard generally repeat the G# but not all of them ...
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7answers
4k views
How do you practice trills on piano?
The title says it all: my trills on piano are really terrible, unless they are 1-2 or 2-3.
Anything involving the 5th finger is especially awful.
I have the same feeling of frustration of when I ...
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vote
1answer
81 views
How are fingerings on ornamented notes to be interpreted?
Do fingerings refer to the "main" note or the first note of the ornament realization?
Suppose I have a trilled B over which the editor has put a 3.
Does it mean that I play it 3-2, the C with the 3 ...
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2answers
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Bach: How is this mordent to be realized? Why do people play it like a trill?
So, the old Invention No. 1 by JSB:
http://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/7/72/IMSLP63611-PMLP03267-Bach_Oeves_Complets_Peters_Liv_7_BWV_772-786_2748.pdf
The B on the 4th beat of the 1st ...
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4answers
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Help with interpreting notation in Chopin's nocturne op. 9 no. 2
What are the following notations in Chopin's nocturne op. 9 no. 2:
Tilde sign with accidentals:
tr~~~
Striked note's flag:
Small notes. (I know what mean single small notes right before a normal ...
3
votes
2answers
527 views
Notation for a turn with a half step
From what I've read, turns only seem to use the notes in the key, so if I'm in C Major, what would be the notation for a turn with G-A-G-F#-G ?
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2answers
502 views
How to notate this ornament?
I'm transcribing a piano ballad by a contemporary-progressive-symphonic-chamber-rock band, and I have come across these two ornaments. Each first measure on the below image shows the passage without ...
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1answer
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Different trill notations in Schubert piano music
I'm trying to teach myself some Schubert and am playing through Sonate 1 (Op. 42). The piece employs a lot of trills. However, there are two notations in use: tr and the up & down squiggle.
Is ...
7
votes
1answer
214 views
De-awkwardize middle G trill on recorder
The third movement of Bach's second Brandenburg Concerto calls for multiple trills on the middle G in F. The fingering is highly awkward because it is right between two registers and I am looking for ...
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3answers
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Trill in Bach fugue WTC 1 BWV 851
In the second bar of the J.S. Bach d-minor Fugue in WTC 1 (BWV 851), we have
How should this trill be played?
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3answers
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What is the correct way to play the two ornaments in BWV 541?
This Prelude and Fugue for organ has two ornaments in it, and those two ornaments, in the Urtext, are the same:
In the middle of the Prelude (please excuse the score markings, and the "lighter" had ...
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votes
1answer
293 views
How to determine the pitch of the auxiliary note in an ornament
I thought that the auxiliary note of a lower mordent (or other ornaments) was simply the note before in the scale unless the mordent had an accidental on top of it. However, I ran into this ...
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4answers
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Practicing Trills
The slowness of my trills is getting annoying. I am able to play Blue by Yngwie Malmsteen but yet fail at doing the trill in the intro. How can one practice to make them faster? Endurance is not an ...
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2answers
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Piano mordent with two notes
I'm trying to play Brahms' Hungarian dance №11 and there is a technical question.
How do I play a mordent from the 4th measure? Whether both notes should be played with mordent or just the upper one? ...
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2answers
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Chopin op. 28 no. 4 - bar 16 symbols
There are two symbols I do not recognise below the stretto in this excerpt:
What are these symbols?
And also, form what I read the stretto here should be interpreted as an accelerando, am I correct?
