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Ornament

A decorative note or group of notes added to a melody.

Category
performance
Pronunciation
OR-nuh-ment
Origin

Latin (ornamentum, decoration)

Length
139 words · 1 min read

About Ornament

Ornaments embellish a melody with additional notes that are not essential to the harmonic or rhythmic structure. Common ornaments include the trill (rapid alternation between adjacent notes), mordent (single alternation), turn (a four-note figure around the main note), appoggiatura (a "leaning" note that resolves by step), and acciaccatura (a crushed grace note).
v1 · 10/04/2026Browse all terms →