6/23/24, 9:41 PM Grace note - Wikipedia

Grace note

Acciaccatura
notation

Various interpretations of grace

A grace note is a kind of music notation denoting several kinds of musical ornaments. It is usually
printed smaller to indicate that it is melodically and harmonically nonessential. When occurring by
itself, a single grace note indicates either an acciaccatura when notated with an oblique stroke through
the stem, or an appoggiatura when notated without. When they occur in groups, grace notes can be
interpreted to indicate any of several different classes of ornamentation, depending on interpretation.
For percussion, such as drums, a related concept are ghost notes — supportive snare-hits at a lower
volume.

Notation
In notation, a grace note is distinguished from a standard note by print size. A grace note is indicated
by printing a note much smaller than an ordinary note, sometimes with a slash through the note stem
(if two or more grace notes, there might be a slash through the note stem of the first note but not the
subsequent grace notes). The presence or absence of a slash through a note stem is often interpreted
to indicate the intention of an acciaccatura or an appoggiatura, respectively.

The works of some composers, especially Frédéric Chopin, may contain long series of notes printed in
the small type reserved for grace notes simply to show that the amount of time to be taken up by those
notes as a whole unit is a subjective matter to be decided by the performer. Such a group of small
printed notes may or may not have an accompanying principal note, and so may or may not be
considered as grace notes in analysis.

Function
A grace note represents an ornament, and distinguishing whether a given singular grace note is to be
played as an appoggiatura or acciaccatura in the performance practice of a given historical period (or
in the practice of a given composer) is usually the subject of lively debate. This is because we must rely

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on literary, interpretative accounts of performance practice in those days before such time as audio
recording was implemented, and even then, only a composer's personal or sanctioned recording could
directly document usage.

As either an appoggiatura or an acciaccatura, grace notes occur as notes of short duration before the
sounding of the relatively longer-lasting note which immediately follows them. This longer note, to
which any grace notes can be considered harmonically and melodically subservient (except in the
cases of certain appoggiaturas, in which the ornament may be held for a longer duration than the note
it ornaments), is called the principal in relation to the grace notes.

A grace note or notes may sometimes be noted in terms of exactly half of the principal note. Where
they are multiple, an uncommon view is that their notation must always equal exactly half of the
principal note. (i.e. If the principal note is a quarter-note the grace note must be notated as an eighth-
note, two sixteenth notes, four thirty-second notes, or eight sixty-fourth notes, etc.)

Grace notes, unlike what are referred to as cue-notes, never affect the rhythmic subdivision, or
musical "count" of the bar in which they are contained - and therefore, do not require other notes to
be dropped from the bar to keep the time signature intact.[1]

Use in music
In bagpipe music there is extensive use of grace notes. Indeed, because the chanter is not tongued but
supplied by a continuous air source from the bag, grace notes are sometimes the only way to
differentiate between notes. For example, inserting a grace note between two crotchets (quarter
notes) played at the same pitch is the only way to indicate them as opposed to them sounding like a
single minim (half note). Various multiple grace note ornaments are formalised into distinct types,
such as doublings, throws, and birls. A single grace note is played on the beat as is the first grace note
of a complex ornament such as a doubling. Some complex ornaments, such as taorluath can be played
starting or ending on the beat. Grace notes are typically played as short as possible by lifting the
fingers quickly and a short distance off the chanter.[2]

In modern editions of Western classical works, editors often seek to eliminate the potential for
different interpretations of ornamental symbology, of which grace notes are a prime example, by
converting a composer's original ornamental notation into literal notation, the interpretation of which
is far less subject to variation. Most modern composers, although by no means all of them, have
followed this trend in the prima facie notation of their works.

In the context of Indian classical music (Hindustani (North Indian), Carnatic (South Indian)) some
specific forms of notes (swara-s) fulfill the technique of playing a note (swara). Such ornaments in
Indian Classical Music are important for the proper rendition and essential to create the beauty of a
raga. Some notes are linked with its preceding and succeeding note; these linked notes are called Kan-
swars (grace notes).[3] Kan-swars deal with so called 'touch notes' ('sparsh' means "touch" in Hindi
(Devanagari). These grace notes (acciaccatura) are often referred to as sparsh-swars. Kan-swars or
sparsh-swars can be executed vocally and on instruments in three ways:

1. using a swift short glide (meend or ghaseet),

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2. as a Sparsh (technique of playing a note on a plucked stringed instrument, the movement of notes
is ascending) and
3. as a Krintan (the opposite of a Sparsh, movement of notes is descending).
In a book on sitar compositions, Kaṇ has been defined as 'fast deflection which can be approached
while descending or ascending'. The act of Kaṇ being repeated twice, thrice or four times in a single
stroke of mizrāb is called Krintan.[4]

References
1. "Playing Grace Notes, Trills, and Glissandos on the Piano" (http://www.dummies.com/art-center/m
usic/piano/playing-grace-notes-trills-and-glissandos-on-the-piano/), For Dummies
2. BagpipeLessons.com Secrets of Top Pipers: Gracenotes by Jori Chisholm (https://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=6aVehSJE4P4)
3. "Ornamentation in Indian Classical Music - Raag Hindustani" (https://raag-hindustani.com/Embelli
shment.html). raag-hindustani.com. Retrieved 2020-09-18.
4. Sitar Compositions in Ome Swarlipi (http://www.omenad.net/articles/omeswarlipi.htm). Ragini
Trivedi. 2010. ISBN 978-0-557-70596-2

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