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Mordent: a quick alternation of the written note with its neighbour.
The ornament is printed as a sign, not a word: a short zigzag over the note, crossed by a vertical stroke for the lower form. The word mordente appears mainly in prefaces, ornament tables and editorial notes. An accidental above or below the sign alters the neighbouring note.
A single quick flick to the neighbouring note and back, usually on the beat, it sharpens a note’s attack without the length of a trill. Names for the upper and lower forms vary between traditions (mordent, inverted mordent, Pralltriller), so rely on the sign, and write the notes out in small type when the exact shape matters. It belongs above all to Baroque and Classical keyboard writing.
Mordente is one of 1755 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary: the words, abbreviations and instrument names that appear in printed scores, plus the vocabulary composers use to talk about them.
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