Definition
Ornaments (embellishments) are added notes or short figures that decorate a main note. They are indicated with symbols or small notes. How they are played depends on style and era: a Bach trill is not played like a Chopin trill.
The main ornaments
| Ornament | Sign | Execution (main note C) |
|---|---|---|
| Trill | tr (with wavy line) | rapid alternation with the upper note: C–D–C–D… |
| Upper mordent (pralltriller) | short wavy line | C–D–C, very fast, on the beat |
| Lower mordent | wavy line with vertical stroke | C–B–C |
| Turn (gruppetto) | sideways S sign | D–C–B–C (upper, main, lower, main) |
| Inverted turn | sideways S with a stroke, or upside down | B–C–D–C |
| Acciaccatura | small note with a slash | very short note before the main note, almost simultaneous |
| Appoggiatura | small note without a slash | note “leaned on” on the beat, takes part of the value |
| Arpeggio | vertical wavy line before the chord | chord notes played from bottom to top in rapid succession |
| Glissando / portamento | straight line between two notes (gliss.) | continuous slide (strings, trombone, voice) or rapid scale (harp, piano) |
Performance rules by era
- Baroque (Bach, Handel, Couperin): the trill starts from the upper note and on the beat; it is a repeated appoggiatura that creates dissonance. A long appoggiatura takes half of the note's value (two thirds if the note is dotted). Bach wrote out a table of ornaments in the Clavier-Büchlein for his son Wilhelm Friedemann (1720).
- Classical (Mozart, Haydn): the trill may start from the upper note or the main note depending on context; it often ends with a turn (Nachschlag). Appoggiaturas are still expressive and on the beat.
- Romantic (Chopin, Liszt): the trill usually starts from the main note; ornaments become fioriture written out in full (the fioriture of Italian bel canto: Bellini, Donizetti).
- Jazz and pop: grace notes (acciaccaturas) on guitar, piano and voice; soul “fills” and “turns”; vocal melismas.
Modern vocal ornaments
In pop, R&B and gospel, ornamentation is fundamental: riffs and runs (fast melismas, often on the pentatonic or blues scale), turns on the final note, an initial scoop, a final fall, and controlled vibrato at the end of long notes. They are the modern equivalent of bel canto fioriture.
Ornaments and production
- In MIDI, an acciaccatura is a note 10–40 ms before the beat: with hard quantization it lands on the beat and becomes a cluster. Program it off the grid or with snap turned off.
- The string trill in orchestral libraries is often a sampled articulation (semitone / whole-tone trill): use it instead of programming extremely fast notes.
- The glide/portamento of synths (in mono) produces a vocal-style portamento; many trap and future bass leads use a pitch bend of ±2 semitones as a “scoop”.
- Arpeggiators (FL Studio's Arpeggiator in the Channel settings) are the mechanical version of the arpeggio as an ornament.
Examples in real pieces
- Bach, Goldberg Variations, Aria: Baroque ornaments in almost every bar (trills, mordents, appoggiaturas).
- Mozart, Sonata K. 331, “Rondo alla turca”: acciaccaturas on the notes of the theme.
- Rimsky-Korsakov, “Flight of the Bumblebee”: an entire piece built on chromatic figures that sound like an extended trill.
- Whitney Houston, “I Will Always Love You”: melismas and runs as ornamentation of Dolly Parton's melody.
- Sitar and “Eastern” guitars: glissando and meend (see raga) as structural ornaments.
Exercise
- Play a long C with a Baroque trill (from D) and a Romantic one (from C): listen to the different tension.
- Program a melody with 3 off-grid acciaccaturas (20–30 ms before the beat) and compare with the same notes quantized.
- Sing a final note and try scoop, fall, turn and vibrato: record and choose the one that best serves the lyric.
Connections
Non-chord tones; Articulations; Melodic writing and contour; Raga: introduction; Vocal harmonies and choir voicing.