Acciaccatura

The acciaccatura is an extremely short grace note — almost instantaneous — that crushes against the principal note before resolving to it. The Italian acciaccare means ‘to crush’, and that is the effect: the grace note is so brief it almost coincides with the principal note, creating a sharp, percussive ornament.

The notation is a small note with a slash through its stem (♪̸), distinguishing it from the longer appoggiatura (which has no slash). Where the appoggiatura takes part of the principal note’s time, the acciaccatura takes essentially none — it sounds for an instant, then yields to the principal note.

The ornament is common in 18th-century keyboard music, especially in fast passages where the dissonance of an appoggiatura would be too long. Domenico Scarlatti uses acciaccaturas constantly in his keyboard sonatas; the brief crushing notes give his music its characteristic spice.

Italian, gerund of acciaccare (‘to crush’).

Play the grace note as quickly as possible — virtually simultaneous with the principal note, but slightly before. The effect should be a brief sharp dissonance crushed into resolution.