Ornament (music)

An extreme example of ornamentation as a fioritura from Chopin's Nocturne in D♭ major

In music, 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. Many ornaments are performed as "fast notes" around a central note. The amount of ornamentation in a piece of music can vary from quite extensive (it was often so in the Baroque period) to relatively little or even none. The word agrément is used specifically to indicate the French Baroque style of ornamentation.

In the baroque period, it was common for performers to improvise ornamentation on a given melodic line. A singer performing a da capo aria, for instance, would sing the melody relatively unornamented the first time, but decorate it with additional flourishes the second time. Improvised ornamentation continues to be part of the Irish musical tradition, particularly in sean-nós singing but also throughout the wider tradition as performed by the best players.

Ornamentation may also be indicated by the composer. A number of standard ornaments (described below) are indicated with standard symbols in music notation, while other ornamentations may be appended to the score in small notes, or simply written out normally. Frequently, a composer will have his or her own vocabulary of ornaments, which will be explained in a preface, much like a code. A grace note is a note written in smaller type, with or without a slash through it, to indicate that its note value does not count as part of the total time value of the bar. Alternatively, the term may refer more generally to any of the small notes used to mark some other ornament (see Appoggiatura, below), or in association with some other ornament’s indication (see Trill, below), regardless of the timing used in the execution.

In Spain, melodies ornamented upon repetition ("divisions") were called "diferencias", and can be traced back to 1538, when Luis de Narváez published the first collection of such music for the vihuela.

Western classical music

Trill

Main article: Trill (music)

A trill, also known as a "shake", is a rapid alternation between an indicated note and the one above.

Sometimes it is expected that the trill will end with a turn (by sounding the note below rather than the note above the principal note, immediately before the last sounding of the principal note), or some other variation. Such variations are often marked with a few grace notes following the note that bears the trill indication. The trill is indicated by either a $tr~~~$ or a $tr~~~$~~, with the ~ representing the length of the trill, above the staff. In Baroque music, the trill is sometimes indicated with a + (plus) sign above or below the note.

<phonos file="Trill example ornaments.mid">Play</phonos>

There is also a single tone trill variously called trillo or tremolo in late Renaissance and early Baroque.

Mordent

Main article: Mordent

The mordent is thought of as a rapid alternation between an indicated note, the note above (called the upper mordent, inverted mordent, or pralltriller) or below (called the lower mordent or mordent), and the indicated note again.

The upper mordent is indicated by a short thick squiggle (which may also indicate a trill); the lower mordent is the same with a short vertical line through it:

<phonos file="Upper and lower mordent notation 1.mid">Play</phonos>

As with the trill, the exact speed with which the mordent is performed will vary according to the tempo of the piece, but, at a moderate tempo, the above might be executed as follows:

<phonos file="Upper and lower mordent execution (1).mid">Play</phonos>

Confusion over the meaning of the unadorned word mordent has led to the modern terms upper and lower mordent being used, rather than mordent and inverted mordent. Practice, notation, and nomenclature vary widely for all of these ornaments, that is to say, whether, by including the symbol for a mordent in a musical score, a composer intended the direction of the additional note (or notes) to be played above or below the principal note written on the sheet music varies according to when the piece was written, and in which country. This article as a whole addresses an approximate nineteenth-century standard.

In the Baroque period, a Mordant (the German or Scottish equivalent of mordent) was what later came to be called an inverted mordent and what is now often called a lower mordent. In the 19th century, however, the name mordent was generally applied to what is now called the upper mordent. Although mordents are now thought of as just a single alternation between notes, in the Baroque period a Mordant may sometimes have been executed with more than one alternation between the indicated note and the note below, making it a sort of inverted trill. Mordents of all sorts might typically, in some periods, begin with an extra inessential note (the lesser, added note), rather than with the principal note as shown in the examples here. The same applies to trills, which in Baroque and Classical times would standardly begin with the added, upper note. A lower inessential note may or may not be chromatically raised (that is, with a natural, a sharp, or even a double sharp) to make it just one semitone lower than the principal note.

Turn

"Gruppetto" redirects here. For the group of cyclists behind the peloton, see Grupetto.

A turn is a short figure consisting of the note above the one indicated, the note itself, the note below the one indicated, and the note itself again. It is marked by a mirrored S-shape lying on its side above the staff.

The details of its execution depend partly on the exact placement of the turn mark. The following turns:

might be executed like this:

<phonos file="Turn execution.mid">Play</phonos>

The exact speed at which the notes of a turn are executed can vary, as can its rhythm. The question of how a turn is best executed is largely one of context, convention, and taste. The lower and upper added notes may or may not be chromatically raised (see mordent).

An inverted turn (the note below the one indicated, the note itself, the note above it, and the note itself again) is usually indicated by putting a short vertical line through the normal turn sign, though sometimes the sign itself is turned upside down.

Appoggiatura

Appoggiatura (/əˌpɒdʒəˈtjʊərə/; Italian: [appoddʒaˈtuːra]) comes from the Italian verb appoggiare, "to lean upon". The long appoggiatura (as opposed to the short appoggiatura, the acciaccatura) is important melodically and often suspends the principal note by taking away the time-value of the appoggiatura prefixed to it (generally half the time value of the principal note, though in simple triple or compound meters, for example, it might receive two thirds of the time). The added note (the unessential note) is one degree higher or lower than the principal note; and, if lower, it may or may not be chromatically raised (see mordent).

The appoggiatura is often written as a grace note prefixed to a principal note and printed in small character, usually without the oblique stroke:

150px <phonos file="Appoggiatura_notation.mid">Play</phonos>

This may be executed as follows:

<phonos file="Appoggiatura_execution.mid">Play</phonos>

Appoggiaturas are also usually on the strong or strongest beat of the resolution and are approached by a leap and left by step. (see http://www.ars-nova.com/Theory%20Q&A/Q93.html . Also Kent Kennan, Counterpoint, Fourth Edition, pg 40. This notation has also been used to mark an accent in the articulation of vocal music, meaning that the grace note should be emphasized, for example in Haydn's Missa Brevis in G major, fifth bar for soprano and tenor voices.

So-called unaccented appoggiaturas are also quite common in many periods of music, even though they are disapproved of by some early theorists (for example CPE Bach, in his Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen). While not being identical with the acciaccatura (see below), these are almost always quite short, and take their time from the allocation for the note that precedes them. They are more likely to be seen as full-size notes in the score, rather than in small character – at least in modern editions.

An ascending appoggiatura was previously known as a forefall, while a descending appoggiatura was known as a backfall.

Acciaccatura

<phonos file="Acciaccatura notation.mid">Play</phonos>

Acciaccatura (/əˌtʃækəˈtjʊərə/, Italian: [attʃakkaˈtuːra]) comes from the Italian verb schiacciare, "to crush". The acciaccatura (sometimes called short appoggiatura) is perhaps best thought of as a shorter variant of the long appoggiatura, where the delay of the principal note is quick. It is written using a grace note (often a quaver, or eighth note), with an oblique stroke through the stem. The acciaccatura in the Classical period is usually performed before the beat and the emphasis is on the main note not the grace note. The appoggiatura long or short has the emphasis on the grace note.

The exact interpretation of this will vary according to the tempo of the piece, but the following is possible: <phonos file="Acciaccatura execution.mid">Play</phonos>

Whether the note should be played before or on the beat is largely a question of taste and performance practice. Exceptionally, the acciaccatura may be notated in the bar preceding the note to which it is attached, showing that it is to be played before the beat. (This guide to practice is unfortunately not available, of course, if the principal note does not fall at the beginning of the bar.)

The implication also varies with the composer and the period. For example, Mozart's and Haydn's long appoggiaturas are – to the eye – indistinguishable from Mussorgsky's and Prokofiev's before-the-beat acciaccaturas.

Glissando

Main article: Glissando

A glissando is a slide from one note to another, signified by a wavy line connecting the two notes. All of the intervening diatonic or chromatic (depending on instrument and context) are heard, albeit very briefly. In this way, the glissando differs from portamento.

In contemporary classical music (especially in avant garde pieces) a glissando tends to assume the whole value of the initial note.

Schleifer

Schleifer notation

Main article: Slide (musical ornament)

A slide (Schleifer in German) instructs the performer to begin one or two scale steps below the marked note and slide upward. The schleifer usually includes a prall trill or mordent trill at the end.

Willard A. Palmer wrote, "The schleifer is a 'sliding' ornament, usually used to fill in the gap between a note and the previous one."

In Baroque music

Ornaments in Baroque music take on a different meaning. Most ornaments occur on the beat, and use diatonic intervals more exclusively than ornaments in later periods do. While any table of ornaments must give a strict presentation, consideration has to be given to the tempo and note length, since at rapid tempos it would be difficult or impossible to play all of the notes that are usually required. One realisation of some common Baroque ornaments is set in the following table from the Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach written by J.S. Bach:

<phonos file="Tableofornaments750.mid">Play</phonos>

Renaissance and early Baroque

From Silvestro Ganassi’s treatise in 1535 we have instructions and examples of how musicians of the Renaissance and early Baroque periods decorated their music with improvised ornaments. Michael Praetorius spoke warmly of musicians’ "sundry good and merry pranks with little runs/leaps".

Until the last decade of the 16th century the emphasis is on divisions, also known as diminutions, passaggi (in Italian), gorgia ("throat", first used as a term for vocal ornamentation by Nicola Vicentino in 1555), or glosas (by Ortiz, in both Spanish and Italian) – a way to decorate a simple cadence or interval with extra shorter notes. These start as simple passing notes, progress to step-wise additions and in the most complicated cases are rapid passages of equal valued notes – virtuosic flourishes. There are rules for designing them, to make sure that the original structure of the music is left intact. Towards the end of this period the divisions detailed in the treatises contain more dotted and other uneven rhythms and leaps of more than one step at a time.

Starting with Archilei (1589), the treatises bring in a new set of expressive devices called graces alongside the divisions. These have a lot more rhythmic interest and are filled with affect as composers took much more interest in text portrayal. It starts with the trillo and cascate, and by the time we reach Francesco Rognoni (1620) we are also told about fashionable ornaments: portar la voce, accento, tremolo, gruppo, esclamatione and intonatio.

Key treatises detailing ornamentation:

• Silvestro Ganassi dal Fontego Opera intitulata Fontegara ..., Venice 1535
• Adrianus Petit Coclico Compendium musices Nuremberg, 1552
• Diego Ortiz Tratado de glosas sobre clausulas ..., Rome, 1553
• Juan Bermudo El libro llamado declaracion de instrumentos musicales, Ossuna, 1555
• Hermann Finck Pratica musica, Wittenberg, 1556
• Tomás de Santa Maria Libro llamado arte de tañer fantasia, 1565
• Girolamo Dalla Casa Il vero modo diminuir..., Venice, 1584
• Giovanni Bassano Ricercate, passaggi et cadentie ..., Venice 1585
• Giovanni Bassano Motetti, madrigali et canzoni francesi ... diminuiti, Venice 1591
• Riccardo Rognoni Passaggi per potersi essercitare nel diminuire, Venice 1592
• Lodovico Zacconi Prattica di musica, Venice, 1592
• Giovanni Luca Conforto Breve et facile maniera ... a far passaggi, Rome 1593
• Girolamo Diruta Il transylvano, 1593
• Giovanni Battista Bovicelli Regole, passaggi di musica, madrigali e motetti passaggiati, Venice 1594
• Aurelio Virgiliano Il Dolcimelo, MS, c.1600
• Giulio Caccini Le nuove musiche, 1602
• Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger, Libro primo di mottetti passeggiati à una voce, Rome, 1612
• Francesco Rognoni Selva de varii passaggi..., 1620
• Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger, Libro secondo d'arie à una e piu voci, Rome, 1623
• Giovanni Battista Spadi da Faenza Libro de passaggi ascendenti e descendenti, Venice, 1624
• Johann Andreas Herbst Musica practica, 1642

Indian classical music

In Carnatic Music, the Sanskrit term gamaka (which means "to move") is used to denote ornamentation. One of the most unique forms of ornamentation in world music is the Carnatic Kampitam which is about oscillating a note in diverse ways by varying amplitude, speed or number of times the note is oscillated. This is a highly subtle, yet scientific ornamentation as the same note can be oscillated in different ways based on the raga or context within a raga. For instance, the fourth note (Ma) in Shankarabharanam or Begada allows at least three to five types of oscillation based on the phrasings within the raga.

Another important gamaka in Carnatic is the "Sphuritam" which is about rendering a note twice but forcefully from a grace note immediately below it the second time. For instance, the third note (Ga) would be rendered plain first time and with a force from the second (Ri) the next time. Other important Carnatic ornamentation include aahatam, pratyaahatam, tripuchham, andolam, daalu, daatu and jaru. The last is similar to Western Classical glissando.

In non-classical music

Rock and pop

Ornamentation is also used in popular music such as rock and pop. Rock piano playing has incorporated many ornaments from early 1900s blues piano styles such as boogie-woogie. Improvised ornaments in rock solos or instrumental melody lines are often idiosyncratic to specific instruments. Electric guitar players can draw from an immense array of ornaments that are specific to their instrument. Hammer-ons and pull-offs are two of the most basic techniques, and may be used in executing classical ornaments, as well as for the execution of ornaments more particular to guitar (such as tapping, which can be used as ornamentation or as a playing style in and of itself).

While rock and pop are typically learned by ear, with the arrangements fleshed out with improvisation, the style also includes notated music, particularly in arranged music for larger ensembles. This notated music uses some of the most-used "Classical" ornaments, such as trills and mordents.

Jazz

Jazz music incorporates a number of ornaments, which can be divided into improvised ornaments. They are added by performers during their solo extemporizations, and as written ornaments. Improvised ornaments are often idiosyncratic to specific instruments. The Hammond organ playing in the jazz subgenre of organ trio soul jazz often features trills which outline the harmony of a chord, glisses up or down the keyboard, and turn-like decorations. Saxophone players may decorate a simple melody line with turns, grace notes, and short glissandi created with the mouth and the reed.

While jazz is substantially based upon improvisation, the style also includes notated music, particularly in music for larger ensembles such as big bands. Small ensembles may also use notated music for part of their performances, in arrangements of a tune’s main theme. Notated jazz music incorporates most of the standard "classical" ornaments, such as trills, grace notes, and mordents. As well, written jazz notation may also include other ornaments, such as "dead" or "ghost" notes (a percussive sound, notated by an "X"), glissandi (step-wise glides between a start and destination note, written with a long line), "doit" notes and "fall" notes (annotated by curved lines above the note, indicating by direction of curve that the note should either rapidly rise or fall on the scale), or an instruction to "fill" part of a bar with an embellishment (notated with diagonal slashes in the bar).

Celtic music

Ornamentation is a major distinguishing characteristic of Irish, Scottish, and Cape Breton music. A singer, fiddler, flautist, harpist, tin whistler, piper or a player of another instrument may add grace notes (known as 'cuts' in Irish fiddling), slides, rolls, doubling, mordents, drones, trebles (or Birls in Scottish fiddling), or a variety of other ornaments to a given melody.

See also

• Dreydlekh, ornaments in klezmer music
• Ribattuta

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: 

Further reading

• Donington, Robert. A Performer's Guide to Baroque Music. London: Faber & Faber, 1975.
• Neumann, Frederick. Ornamentation in Baroque and Post-Baroque Music, with Special Emphasis on J. S. Bach. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1978. ISBN 0-691-09123-4 (cloth); ISBN 0-691-02707-2 (pbk).

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons
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