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CONTENTS
  • Preface
  • Compiler's Notes

    PART ONE: GENERAL SIGNS
  • Purpose and General Principles
  • Basic Signs
  • Clefs
  • Accidentals
  • Rhythmic Groups
  • Chords
  • Slurs and Ties
  • Tremelos
  • Fingering
  • Bar Lines and Repeats
  • Nuances
  • Ornaments
  • Theory
  • Modern Notation

    PART TWO: INSTRUMENTAL AND VOCAL
  • General Organization
  • Key& Time Signatures
  • Rhythmic Groups
  • Chords
  • Slurs and Ties
  • Tremelos
  • Fingering
  • Bar Lines and Repeats
  • Nuances
  • Ornaments
  • Theory
  • Modern Notation

    PART TWO: INSTRUMENTAL AND VOCAL
  • General Organization
  • Keyboard Music
  • Vocal Music
  • String Instruments
  • Wind and Percussion Instruments
  • Accordian
  • Instrumental Scores

    APPENDICES
  • Authorities for this work
  • National Signs of 16 Countries
  • Index of Signs in Standard Braille Order
  • Tables of Signs


    Other Resources
  • Contact instructor
  • Send mail to class
  • Main BRL page
  • Contractions Lookup
  • Contractions List
  • Intro Braille course
  • Transcribers course
  • Specialized Codes course

  • XI. ORNAMENTS

    (Table 11)

    Table 11
    Trill [It. trillo; F. cadence, tremblement; G. Triller; Sp. trino]
    Appoggiatura [It.] [F. port de voix; G. Vorschlag; Sp. apoyadura]
    Short appoggiatura (formerly: grace note)
    Turn [It. fioritura; F. double, cadence, double cadence; G. Doppelschlag; Sp. grupito] between notes
    Turn above or below a note
    Inverted turn between notes
    Inverted turn above or below a note
    Before an accidental, inflected lower note of ornament
    Short trill, [short shake, pralltriller, inverted, i.e., upper, mordent]
    Extended short trill, shake or pralltriller
    Mordent [It. mordente; F. mordant (pince, pincement); Sp. mordiente]
    Extended mordent

    Arpeggio up
    Upward arpeggio through two or more staves

    Arpeggio down
    Downward arpeggio through two or more staves
    Bebung

    11-1. Ornaments are placed before the notes or intervals to which they apply. No special octave mark is required for such notes.

    11-2. In Table 11, ornament names are given in several languages to aid recognition. The braille signs refer to the print symbols that appear in the print edition of this manual. Performers should be aware of multiple possibilities, and transcribers should include all information regarding meaning and/or performance that may be included in print. During the Baroque period and the years since that time, different composers have given different names to the same ornaments, different ornaments have been given the same names, and there is little agreement concerning specific performance details. For example, the "New Grove"1 shows the print symbol for a trill (dots 2-3-5) with the following definitions, each followed by its "Guide to Use or Source".

    (a)Trill; Ubiquitous Fr. and Ger. from 17th century: the correct usage

    (b) Double mordent; Louli(

    (c) Appoggiatura-prepared lower mordent; ?Locke, Purcell

    (d) Prepared trill; L'Affilard

    (e) Ascending trill; Gottlieb Muffat

    (f) Vibrato; Mace

    (g) Tremolo; LĠAffilard

    Each of the following examples in Chapter XI illustrates the first, (a),

    listing by the "New Grove".

    11-3. For the sign , most performers will use the ubiquitous meaning, trill, but performances will vary according to the tempo, the style of the music, and other factors. The print symbol does not indicate whether the trill is prepared or whether it ends with a turn; performers may include those features if appropriate.

    11-4. If two notes of a chord are to be trilled, both notes must be so marked.

    Example 11-4.

    11-5. When only one trill symbol appears, followed by a wavy line across several notes, a line of continuation (Table 10) may be used as in Example 11-5.

    Example 11-5.

    11-6. The most common print symbol for appoggiatura in modern editions is a note printed in very small type. When this small note has an oblique stroke through its stem, a very quick, short appoggiatura is indicated. Two or more appoggiaturas before a normal note must also be executed quickly.

    Example 11-6

    11-7. When an appoggiatura does not have the stroke or is not part of a group, the normal sign for appoggiatura should be used. The length of the ornament will depend upon the style of the music.

    Example 11-7

    11-8. If possible, appoggiaturas are written on the same line as the notes which they embellish. The sign for a short appogiatura may be doubled.

    Example 11-8.

    11-9. In each of the next examples, an ornament is followed by the realization or effect of that ornament sign. Exact rhythmic details may vary according to the musical style. These examples are provided by Association Valentin Hauy pour le Bien des Aveugles, Paris. Example 11-9 shows a turn between two notes in print. In braille the turn sign precedes the first of the two notes.

    Example 11-9.

    11-10. In Example 11-10, the dot 6 preceding the turn sign indicates that the turn sign appears directly above a note in print. In braille, the sign precedes that note.

    Example 11-10.

    11-11. When dots 1-2-3 follow the turn sign, an inverted turn, , is indicated. Example 11-11(a) shows the sign between two notes in print, and (b) shows it directly above a note.

    Example 11-11.

    (a)

    (b)

    11-12. Accidentals printed above or below an ornament symbol precede that sign in braille. If the accidental appears below the symbol in print, it is preceded by dot 6 in braille. Example 11-12(a) shows a sharp for the lower note of the turn, and (b) indicates accidentals for both of the auxiliary notes. This method of marking accidentals applies to any type of ornament.

    Example 11-12.

    (a)

    (b)

    11-13. Trills are usually indicated in print with letters such as "tr" or a wavy line with "v-shaped" points. A very short wavy line with only two or three "v's" was called an upper mordent in some earlier braille manuals. That name is now called "a misappropriation".2 The ubiquitous name for the ornament is trill. This is not a continuous trill as with dots 2-3-5. It uses the upper auxiliary note once or twice and is executed quickly.

    Example 11-13.

    11-14. The sign indicates an extended short trill or short shake. As with all ornaments, the exact speed and rhythmic combination varies with the performer's interpretation after considering the composer and the period of the composition.

    11-15. The print symbol for a mordent is the same as the print symbol for a short trill with the addition of a short, vertical or diagonal line through it. In the execution of a mordent, as in (a), the lower auxiliary note is played once or twice. For an extended mordent, as in (b), the lower auxiliary is played a few more times.

    Example 11-15.

    (a)

    (b)

    11-16. When fingering appears with an ornament, the ornament sign is placed before the note or interval and the fingering follows immediately after it.

    Example 11-16.

    11-17. Interval doubling may be used with ornaments providing the doubling continues through the ornament.

    Example 11-17.

    11-18. The doubling must be stopped for the short appoggiatura in Example 11-18.

    Example 11-18

    11-19. Some print symbols indicate a combination of ornaments such as a trill with a circular twist at the end to indicate a turn or an inverted turn. In this case a combination of braille signs may be used. A trill sign followed by the appropriate turn can convey appropriate information to the braille reader.

    11-20. The arpeggio up sign, , is placed before a chord in one part. When an in-accord is necessary, the sign appears before all notes or chords that are part of the arpeggiated chord. When the arpeggio extends through more than one part, the sign is used before notes or chords in all parts affected. Also see Examples 17-36 and 17-37.

    Example 11-20.

    11-21. The number of dots (staccatos) in the braille bebung should equal the number of printed dots in that ornament.



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    Copyright © 1999 The Shodor Education Foundation, Inc.