Grace Note
A non-essential musical note that serves primarily as an ornamentation
"Grace Note" is categorized as an "ornamental" musical element primarily employed for its decorative qualities. Typically represented by smaller note symbols in sheet music, it may consist of one or more notes. What characterizes a grace note are its brevity and swiftness, making it a tool often used to infuse additional musicality and emotional expression.
Grace notes serve various purposes within music. They can emphasize main notes or introduce immediate decorative embellishments, and their execution can vary in speed and intensity, allowing for a diverse range of musical effects. This ornamental technique finds its application across a spectrum of music genres, encompassing classical music, folk music, and pop music.
Grace notes are primarily categorized into two distinct types - "Acciaccatura" and "Appoggiatura". The former is a note that quickly resolves to the main note, while the latter necessitates a harmonious resolution to the principal note. Both varieties of grace notes contribute significantly to enriching emotional depth, infusing color, and augmenting expressiveness in music.