List of ornaments

Ornaments are a frequent embellishment to music. Sometimes different symbols represent the same ornament, or vice versa. Different ornament names can refer to an ornament from a specific area or time period. Understanding these ornaments is important for historically informed performance and understanding the subtleties of different types of music. This list is intended to give basic information on ornaments, with description and illustrations where possible.

A

*section|Accent|Accent can refer to any stressed note, however it was used to indicate an ornament until the 18th century. In German Baroque music it occurs in J. S. Bach's ornament tables as a stressed appoggiatura, indicated by a half circle or "C" in front of a note. This ornament was continued in French Baroque ornament tables. [Grove, Ornament: 8 v a, Accent]
*section|Accent und Trillo|Accent und Trillo, German, used mainly by Bach, a trill prepared by an accented note. Generally indicated by a trill sign (jagged line) with a descending line at the beginning.
*section|Accento|Accento (pl. accenti) Italian, extremely popular vocal ornament, used in the late Renaissance and early Baroque, Lodovico Zacconi and Giovanni Battista Bovicelli, Giulio Caccini was a big proponent of its use. Consists of a dotted figure used to fill in or expand an interval or connect two longer notes. Generally improvised or written out literally. [Grove: Accento, Ornament 1, 4, 8]
*, particularly in Baroque and Classical music. May be notated or improvised. Audio|Apog no-apog.ogg|An example, first played with an appoggiatura, next without one.
*section|Accentuirte Brechung|Accentuirte Brechung German, a broken chord with an added passing tone. Used by Bach, described by Marpurg and Kirnberger, similar to the French "coulé". Sometimes indicated by a slash between two noteheads. [Grove, "Accentuirte Brechung", "Ornaments, §8(v): German baroque: The later 17th and early 18th centuries (g) Other ornaments".]
*section|Acciaccatura|Acciaccatura Italian; French - "pincé étouffé"; German - "Zusammenschlag".

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

Mordent

N

O

P

Q

R

T

Listen
filename=Bassoon-technical-trills.ogg
title= Trills
description= performed on a bassoon.
format=Ogg
*section|Trill|Trill German - "Triller", Italian - "trillo", Spanish - "trinado", a rapid alternation in pitch, generally from a main pitch and one a step or half-step above or below it. There can be differently-named variations within this general type. [Trill]

U

V

*section|Vibrato|Vibrato Italian, a fluctuation in pitch, volume, or both, generally applied to vocal music. Later used for left hand technique on bowed strings, and with breath vibrato on wind instruments. It is either used constantly or used as an ornament, depending on repertoire. When used as an ornament, it is generally improvised, although some 17th century English and French sources indicate a dot over a note should be used. Giuseppe Tartini discussed it as one of the four Graces. There are many terms which can be understood to refer to what is now called vibrato. It is believed that vibrato has been used in European music since medieval times, and went through several cycles of popularity. [Grove, Vibrato]

W

X

Y

Z

References

If a full citation is not given, no author was given for the Grove article.
*GroveOnline|Ornaments|Kenneth Kreitner (1), Louis Jambou (2), Desmond Hunter (3), Stewart A. Carter (4), Peterwalls (5), Kah-Ming Ng (6–7), David Schulenberg (8), Clive Brown (9–10)|March 23|2007
**Matthias Thiemel "Accent"
**"Accento"
**"Trill"
**G. Moens-Haenen, "Vibrato"

Notes

External links