The Piano Ornament
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Ornaments are small fractions of melodies which decorate the basic music line.
They are written above (or near) the notes and each one of them indicates a different music decoration.
The ornaments are not necessary to carry the overall line of the melody, but playing the music without them is like eating your meal without using spices.
The ornaments may be performed in different manners by different performers. The interpretation of the ornaments even depends on the genre - Appoggiatura by Bach may be performed differently from appoggiaturas by Chopin.
The tempo of a piece has a great influence as well - for example, a trill in a slow movement may contain more notes than in a fast one.
There is confusion between the different types of the ornaments, so we'll try to make things clearer for you.
Here are the main kinds of ornaments. Click on each one of them to learn more about how to perform them. You will find explanations and
examples under each of the following ornaments which will make them much clearer to you.
