Double appoggiatura
Ornament of two small grace notes above and below the main note.
What it means
The double appoggiatura is an ornament consisting of two small, unaccented grace notes surrounding a main note: one lies a step above, the other a step below it. Both are played in quick succession before the actual main note, leading briefly into it.
In the notation
It is notated as two small grace notes, often joined by a slur, each with a stroke through the stem, placed immediately before the main note. The order of the upper and lower auxiliary notes is fixed and shown exactly by the notation.
Musical use
The double appoggiatura belongs to the rich ornamental vocabulary of the Baroque and Classical periods and appears especially in harpsichord and early Classical keyboard music as a small, elegant embellishment of a melody note. It lends the main note extra lift and expression without altering the piece's underlying rhythm.
It should be distinguished from the simple appoggiatura, which uses only one auxiliary note, and from the mordent, which also involves two auxiliary tones but executes them rhythmically differently, as a rapid alternation between the main note and a single neighbouring note.
Performance practice
Play the two grace notes lightly and quickly, clearly unaccented compared with the following main note, which carries the actual weight. Practise the double appoggiatura first at a very slow tempo to internalise the exact pitch sequence and the correct timing before the main note, before increasing speed.