Appoggiatura

The long grace note

The appoggiatura is written as a small note without a slash before the main note. Unlike the acciaccatura it is not fleeting: it sounds on the beat, carries the accent and delays the main note by its own duration. Its time is taken from the main note. Often the small note forms a dissonance with the harmony, which resolves when the main note enters. This gives the appoggiatura its sighing, tense expression.

How long is it?

The treatises of the 18th and 19th centuries give a rule of thumb: before a note that can be divided into two equal parts, the grace note receives half of its value. Before a dotted note, which is divided in three, it receives two thirds; the main note then enters only at the dot. This is described by C. P. E. Bach, Leopold Mozart and Hummel, among others. The second example follows this rule: the dotted quarter is three eighths long, and the grace note takes two of them. The rule is a guide, not a requirement: in some styles and pieces the grace note is shorter or longer.

Distinguishing it from the acciaccatura

The appoggiatura is long, the acciaccatura short. In the score they are usually told apart by the slash: the acciaccatura is slashed, the appoggiatura is not. But the slash is not reliable in every piece; long grace notes too occasionally appear slashed. The context decides.

Common mistakes

• Playing the grace note too short: Then the appoggiatura sounds like an acciaccatura.
• Entering the main note too early: It begins only after the duration of the grace note.
• Playing the grace note without an accent: The tension lies on the small note.