n. Music.

An embellishing note, usually one step above or below the note it precedes and indicated by a small note or special sign.

[Italian, from appoggiato, past participle of appoggiare, to lean on, from Vulgar Latin *appodiāre : Latin ad-, ad- + Latin podium, support (from Greek podion, base, from pous, pod-, foot).]

The word "appoggiatura" was music to 13-year-old Anurag Kashyap's ears when he spelled it correctly to win the 2005 national US spelling bee.

Link: Bee ends on melodic note

Posted June 5, 2005.

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(It.)

A ‘leaning note’, normally one step above (less often below) the main note. It usually creates a dissonance in the harmony and resolves by step on to the main note on the following weak beat. It may be notated as a small grace note or in normal notation. In early usage, the descending appoggiatura was called ‘backfall’, the ascending ‘forefall’ or ‘beat’. Ex.1 shows some English 17th-century forms of notation.Ex.2 (D′Anglebert, 1689; Dieupart, c1720) shows other notations and French names. The normal German name is Vorschlag or Accent. Ex.3 (Quantz, 1752) shows some possible interpretations of appoggiaturas; authorities, however, differ as to their realization (for example, that inex.3a, shown as a crotchet/quarter-note, could be played as a quaver/eighth-note, and vice versa inex.3c). In recitative in the late Baroque and Classical periods, and even into the 19th century, there was an understanding that an appoggiatura was normally to be added wherever a phrase ended on two repeated notes, the first on a strong beat; the first note should then be sung as the note immediately above (or very occasionally below) or at the pitch of the note preceding (see exx.4, from Handel's Messiah, and 5).

1 (a) A beat; (b) A forefall (a) A backfall (b) A backfall

2.

3.

The acciaccatura, or ‘crushed note’, is sometimes called a ‘short appoggiatura’; in modern notation, the stem of the grace note is struck through (in earlier notation it was normally notated as a short note, usually a semiquaver/16th-note). A special case is the ‘passing appoggiatura’, where the extra note is interpolated between two main notes a 3rd apart and (normally) descending; its time may be deducted from the note preceding rather than the note following (ex.6).

Ex. 4.

Ex. 5.

Ex. 6.

The double appoggiatura (Ger. Anschlag) consists of two preparatory notes, usually played rapidly: the second is usually the note above the main note.

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IN BRIEF: n. - An embellishing note usually written in smaller size.

Tutor's tip: This was the winning word in the 2005 National Spelling Bee!

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The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: an embellishing note usually written in smaller size
  Synonyms: grace note, acciaccatura

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