What’s on the Ornaments poster
A 7-row table: Ornament · Symbol · Play.
Conventions vary by period; this is the common modern reading.
- Trill — tr — Rapid alternation with the note above
- Mordent — short zigzag — Note, note below, note
- Inverted mordent — zigzag — Note, note above, note
- Turn — S on its side — Above, note, below, note
- Grace note — small note, slashed — As fast as possible before the beat
- Appoggiatura — small note, no slash — Takes half the main note's value
- Glissando — wavy line — Slide continuously between the two pitches
In Baroque music a trill usually starts on the upper note. In later music it starts on the written one.
Questions about the Ornaments poster
- What’s on the Ornaments poster?
- A 7-row table: Ornament · Symbol · Play. Conventions vary by period; this is the common modern reading. Trill — tr — Rapid alternation with the note above; Mordent — short zigzag — Note, note below, note; Inverted mordent — zigzag — Note, note above, note; Turn — S on its side — Above, note, below, note; Grace note — small note, slashed — As fast as possible before the beat; Appoggiatura — small note, no slash — Takes half the main note's value; Glissando — wavy line — Slide continuously between the two pitches. In Baroque music a trill usually starts on the upper note. In later music it starts on the written one.
- Who is the Ornaments poster for?
- Ornaments belongs to the Music section rather than to a school year, because music is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning notation can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the Ornaments poster?
- Ornaments decorate a note without changing the beat it lands on. Start on the beat unless told otherwise. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so Ornaments belongs on the wall where that music work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with Ornaments?
- Accidentals, Articulation and Dynamics & Tempo sit alongside Ornaments in the Music section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.AccidentalsArticulationDynamics & Tempo
- Is the Ornaments poster free to download and print?
- Yes. Ornaments downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Music section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the Ornaments poster print at?
- Ornaments is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of Ornaments loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside Ornaments on the same wall.
Browse every Music poster, or start from the full catalogue.