Schneller

What it means

The Schneller is a very short ornament: the main note alternates once quickly with its upper auxiliary note and returns immediately — main note, upper auxiliary note, main note. The designation upper mordent (Pralltriller) is also common for it.

The figure is the mirror image of the mordent, which executes the same alternation with the lower auxiliary note. It differs from the trill in that the alternation occurs only once instead of continuing.

The terminology, however, is not uniform. In eighteenth-century music theory a distinction is sometimes made between Pralltriller and Schneller — depending on whether the figure connects to a bound preceding note or enters freely. In today's usage the two words are mostly used synonymously. Whoever consults a historical source should check which distinction it makes.

In the notation

The sign is a short zigzag line above the note, without the vertical stroke that marks the mordent. An accidental above the sign indicates that the upper auxiliary note is altered. The same sign designates, in other contexts, a short trill, so that the context decides the execution.

Musical use

The figure enlivens individual notes and gives melodies sharpness, without holding up the flow. It is frequent in the Baroque and the Viennese Classical period, especially on accented beats and at the beginnings of motifs. On harpsichord and organ it also serves to give the note more presence.

The Schneller is a short ornament of three notes. It begins on the main note, leaps to the upper auxiliary note, and returns. Unlike the Pralltriller, the Schneller usually begins on an unaccented beat or before the beat. The designation comes from German treatises on ornamentation of the eighteenth century, for instance in Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.

Performance practice

Execute the figure so fast that it works as a colouring of the main note and not as a sequence of notes in its own right. Accent the main note, not the auxiliary note. Check the sign for the vertical stroke, to distinguish the Schneller from the mordent. And watch the accidental, which can concern the auxiliary note.