Musical ornament guide

Musical ornaments are decorations, most often found in Baroque and Classical Music.

A trill is the most common type of ornament. A trill indicates to move back and forth between two notes as quickly as possible. You always trill to the note above the note that’s written, depending on the key signature. When performing a trill, keep the rhythmic integrity of the written note in tact (ie don’t play it longer just because it’s a trill!)

A mordant is the trill’s baby sister. To play a mordant, start on the written note, play the note above, and then back to the written note.

An inverted mordant is the opposite: start on the written note, play the note below, and then play the written note again.

The turn is an ornament that consists of 5 notes: the written note, the note above, the written note, the note below, and the written note again. You can think of this as a mordant and an inverted mordant put together on one note.

The appoggiatura and the acciaccatura are both grace notes, but played in two different ways. The appoggiatura should be accented and played on the beat.

The acciaccatura can be played either slightly before the beat or on the beat, and it should not be accented.

The glissando means to create a slide between the two notes. Try to stay on the same string if at all possible.

Watch the video below for a full demonstration.