Ornament

Definition

An ornament decorates a melody by adding extra notes. Ornaments are often short and add melodic and rhythmic interest. The most common ornaments are trills and grace notes.

Examples

Musical notation showing two minims with trills

Bagpipe music with grace notes

Related concepts

• Grace note (N5)
• Trill (N5)
• Acciaccatura (H)
• Mordent (H)
• Turn (H)
• Appoggiatura (AH)