Ornament (music)

In music, ornaments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to the overall melodic (or harmonic) line, but serve to decorate or "ornament" that line. The amount of ornamentation in a piece of music can vary from quite extensive (it was often so in the Baroque period) to relatively little or even none. The word agrément is used specifically to indicate the French Baroque style of ornamentation.

Turn

A short figure consisting of the note above the one indicated, the note itself, the note below the one indicated, and the note itself again. It is indicated by a mirrored S-shape lying on its side above the staff. An inverted turn (the note below the one indicated, the note itself, the note above it, and the note itself again) is usually indicated by putting a short vertical line through the normal turn sign, though sometimes the sign itself is turned upside down.

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If the turn symbol is placed directly above a note, it is performed exactly as outlined above. If it is placed between two notes, however, the note before the symbol is played, then the turn, and then the following note. So the following turns:

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might be executed like this:

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The lower added note may or may not be chromatically raised (see mordent).

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The exact speed at which the notes of a turn are played can vary, as can its rhythm. The question of how a turn is best executed is largely one of context, convention and taste.

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