Appoggiatura

The appoggiatura is an expressive non-chord tone that ‘leans’ on the principal note, creating dissonance that resolves to consonance. The ornament is notated as a small grace note attached to a regular note; the appoggiatura takes part (often half or all) of the principal note’s time, then resolves to the principal note itself.

The ornament’s name comes from the Italian appoggiare, ‘to lean’. The appoggiatura ‘leans’ on the principal note, creating a brief moment of expressive dissonance before resolving. The effect is sigh-like, plaintive, often deeply moving.

The appoggiatura is essential to 18th-century vocal style. Mozart’s arias are full of them — the singer ‘leans’ into each principal note, creating expressive tension that resolves into consonance. The duration of the appoggiatura varies; Baroque practice typically gives it half the principal note’s value, but Romantic usage is more flexible.

Italian, ‘leaning’, from appoggiare (‘to lean, support’).

Give the appoggiatura its full value, then resolve to the principal note. The ornament should feel like an expressive lean — emphasized, then released into resolution.