Grace Notes Guide: Appoggiatura and Acciaccatura

Grace notes—both appoggiaturas and acciaccaturas—surged in popularity during the early Baroque music era of the late sixteenth century, and they remained popular for several centuries—appearing regularly in classical music scores by Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Brahms, and Liszt. Their use likely peaked in the eighteenth century, and while they still exist in modern music, they are considerably more rare.

The difference between appoggiaturas and acciaccaturas comes down to performance. Appoggiaturas place their emphasis on the grace note that precedes the principal note, while acciaccaturas emphasize the note itself.

In music theory, an appoggiatura is a two-note sequence where a grace note precedes a principal note. The time value of the principal note can be any duration—for instance a quarter note, an eighth note, or a 16th note—and the grace note value will be far shorter. A properly played appoggiatura places greater emphasis on the grace note than on the principal note. This means that, although the grace note functions as an embellishment of the main note, the grace has a greater volume than the main note.

The grace note of an appoggiatura can be diatonic, which means it fits the key of the musical passage and produces consonance with other notes played simultaneously. It can also be non-diatonic, meaning it has a nonharmonic relationship with other notes played. Non-diatonic grace notes usually approach the main note by chromatic stepwise motion; in other words, they are either one semitone above or one semitone below the note they lead into.

The actual word appoggiatura is Italian, as is standard for most music terminology. It derives from the Italian word appoggiare, meaning "to lean upon." In German, it is known as a vorschlag.

An appoggiatura consists of a grace note followed by the main note. The grace note appears as a small note on the musical staff, and the main note appears as a full-sized note. In most cases, the two notes are connected by a slur marking.

An acciaccatura is a close cousin of the appoggiatura, featuring an auxiliary note (notated as a grace note with an oblique stroke through the stem) that leads into a main note. While an appoggiatura places emphasis on the grace note, an acciaccatura places emphasis on the main note itself.

The grace note of an acciaccatura can be a diatonic note that functions as a chord tone alongside other notes in a musical phrase. Or, perhaps more commonly, acciaccatura grace notes can function as dissonant non-chord tones that provide chromatic motion to the main note.

The word acciaccatura derives from the Italian verb acciaccare, which means "to crush." As such, an acciaccatura is sometimes referred to as a "crushed note." In German, the effect is called a zusammenschlag, which translates as “strike.”

In music notation, an acciaccatura appears on the staff as a grace note with a slash through it that leads into a main note. The slashed grace note is a small note, while the main note appears full-size. Typically the two notes are connected by a slur. A slashed grace note followed by a normal-sized principal note means the composer wants you to glide through the first note and sound the main note on a strong beat.

Today, the term "double appoggiatura" may refer to either two appoggiaturas leading to a principal note, or one appoggiatura and one acciaccatura leading to a principal note. Sometimes these double appoggiaturas approach the main note from opposite directions—with one grace note a half-step below the main note and one grace note a half-step above. This produces a sound similar to a musical turn or trill, where one grace note functions as a lower mordent and one grace note functions as an upper mordent.

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