Share page | Visit Us On FB |
Grace Notes (continued) 67
of the grace note, small as it is, is always taken from the principal or following note. Grove says: "It (the grace note) consists in suspending or delaying a note of a melody by means of a note introduced before it; the time required for its performance, whether long or short, being always taken from the principal note'.' Originally grace notes were invariably written a step or a half step away from the principal note, thus being actually suspensions or delayed progressions of the melody note. Since grace notes must begin on the beat (in piano playing with the bass or accompaniment), it will be of assistance to compare the single grace note to a word of two syllables, like "suc-ceed", in which the accent is entirely on the last syllable. To speak this word quickly requires but a single impulse, this impulse of course being-started with the first syllable (corresponding- to the grace note), but culminating- on the last syllable (corresponding to the principal note). The double grace note can be compared to a three-syllabled word like "in-ter-cede',' in which the accent also falls on the last syllable, the first two syllables corresponding to the two grace notes, while the last syllable corresponds to the principal note. The word must be spoken very quickly and with but a single impulse or thrust in order to get the comparison. In a broad sense, grace notes embrace all the various orna- ments or embellishments used to adorn and beautify a melody, such as the Mordent, the Turn or Grupetto and the Trill. Modern usage, however, confines the term entirely to the small notes, as explained above. |
||
|
||
Remembrance |
||
|
||