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Decorative notes added to a melody — including trills, mordents, turns, grace notes, and appoggiaturas.
Ornaments embellish the skeleton of a melody. In Baroque music, performers were expected to add ornaments; Classical composers wrote them out more precisely. Use ornaments to add grace and brilliance, but don't over-ornament — the underlying melody should remain clear.
C.P.E. Bach's treatise "On the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments" codifies ornament practice — every aspiring composer should study it.
Ornament is one of 228 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary, where every definition is written around how composers actually use the word.
Browse the full dictionary →