Nachschlag

Nachschlag is German for ‘after-stroke’. As a musical term it refers to a small ornamental note (or short figure) appended to the end of a longer ornament — most commonly the closing turn-figure that ends a trill.

A trill with nachschlag proceeds: rapid alternation between principal and upper note, then the nachschlag — typically a brief turn figure or a single grace note — that resolves the trill into the next melodic event. The nachschlag provides a sense of rhythmic and melodic completion.

The term is most often encountered in discussions of Baroque and Classical ornamentation, where the proper execution of trills (with or without nachschlag) is a major performance-practice question. In modern notation, the nachschlag is sometimes written out as small grace notes; in older scores, performers added it according to convention.

German, ‘after-stroke’ — nach (‘after’) + Schlag (‘stroke’).

When a trill is followed by an obvious cadential resolution, consider adding a nachschlag — typically a brief turn figure that bridges trill and resolution. Check style conventions for the era.