Ornamentation

ornamentation
Embellishment of Tones  Sweeten and stir gently

Ornamentation is the musical symbols instructing the musicians to embellish or add to the actual written notes and instruction. Composers use ornamentation or style marks as a way of expressing themselves through the music by adding emotion. Through embellishment, the performer can add more style to the music making it more appealing to the listener.

Ornamentation & Style Marks  The addition of moods and feelings

As mentioned, ornamentation can help the composer convey his intent to the musicians by offering the freedom of style and emotion. Through the embellishment of tones and chords, the audience gets a more accurate sense of how the composer really feels and the true message of the song. Review the symbols of ornamentation below:

accent

Accent marks - tells the musician to emphasize a note over the other notes around it; play a note with emphasis over other notes

mordent

Mordent, upper - tells the musician to play the note in a rapid alternation with the note above it in the scale

accented-pressure

Accented pressure - tells the musician to play the note(s) with a strong emphasis over other notes

natural-harmonics

Natural harmonics for strings - tells the musician to play the string open while lightly touching it at the octave fret

staccato-accented

Accented staccato - tells the musician to play the note(s) with strong emphasis and separation

portato

Portato, louré - indicates an articulation of legato that is not as detached as staccato

acciaccatura-appoggiatura

Acciaccatura - (Italian, "to crush") tells the musician to play a quick light leading tone into the next tone using none of its time value

quintuplets
Quintuplets - tells the musician to play five notes in the time of four
appogiatura

Appogiatura or grace note - (Italian, "to lean upon") indicates to play a leading tone into the next note using half of it's time value.

slash-notation

Rhythm notation - tells the musician to improvise a rhythm based on the chord written above the staff; normally written for guitar

arpeggiate-chord-down

Arpeggiate chord down - tells the musician to play a chord's lower arpeggio in a sequence of notes

rhythm-notation-slash-notes

Slash notation - a series of slash marks as notes normally written for guitar

arpeggiate-chord-up

Arpeggiate chord up - tells the musician to play a chord's upper arpeggio in a sequence of notes

slide

Slide - tells the musician to play the note with a leading slide up to the note or a following slide down from the note

artificial-harmonic

Artificial harmonics for strings - tells the musician to press and play a note then lightly touch the string at the octave fret

staccatissimo

Staccatissimo - tells the musician to play the note(s) detached in a separated and equal manner; cut the note(s) slightly short

bend-down

Bend string down - tells the musician to bend the string downward to increase its pitch; the number indicates the fret

staccato

Staccato - tells the musician to play the note(s) detached in a separated and equal manner; cut the note(s) slightly short

bend-string-down

Bend string down - tells the musician to bend the string downward to increase its pitch; the number indicates the fret

tremolo

Tremolo - tells the musician to rapidly repeat the note or rapidly alternate the note with it's adjacent note; the number of bars indicates the duration of the tremolo.

bend-up

Bend string up - tells the musician to bend the string upward to increase its pitch; tablature staff; number indicates fret

trill

Trill - tells the musician to rapidly alternate the note with its next higher note within the same time; also called shake or tremblement

bend-string-up

Bend string up - tells the musician to bend the string upward to increase its pitch; tablature staff; number indicates fret

triplets-tie

Triplet 1 -  a group of three notes played with an identical significant accent

caesura

Caesura - tells the musician to make a brief pause between musical sections, phrases, or movements

tripets-3in2

Triplet 2 - a group of three notes played in the time value of two

glissando-portimento

Glissando, portimento - tells the musician to play a series of leading notes into the next note or phrase

turn-grupetto

Turn 1, gruppetto - placed above a note, tells the musician to play a short figure (musical phrase) consisting of the note above, the note itself, the note below, and back to the main note.

glissando

Glissando - tells the musician to play a series of leading notes into the next note or phrase

turn-inverted

Turn 2, inverted - when placed to the right of a note, tells the musician to play a short figure consisting of the note above, the note itself, the note below, and back to the main note

legato-tie

Legato, Tie, Slur - tells the musician to play the notes blending together without separation

turn-inverted-split

Turn 3, Inverted - a notation, when written with a short vertical line through, tells the musician to play a short figure consisting of, in reverse order: note below, note itself, note above, main note

mordent-inverted

Mordent, Inverted or lower - tells the musician to play the note in a rapid alternation with the note above it in the scale