[uh-poj-uh-too
r-uh, -tyoor-uh; It. ahp-pawd-jah-too-rah] 
| a note of embellishment preceding another note and taking a portion of its time. |
| ap·pog·gia·tu·ra (ə-pŏj'ə-tŏŏr'ə) n. Music An embellishing note, usually one step above or below the note it precedes and indicated by a small note or special sign. [Italian, from appoggiato, past participle of appoggiare, to lean on, from Vulgar Latin *appodiāre : Latin ad-, ad- + Latin podium, support (from Greek podion, base, from pous, pod-, foot; see ped- in Indo-European roots).] |
appoggiatura
(from Italian appoggiare, "to lean"), in music, an ornamental note of long or short duration that temporarily displaces, and subsequently resolves into, a main note, usually by stepwise motion. During the Renaissance and early Baroque, the appoggiatura was of moderate length, averaging one-third of the main note, and was more in the nature of a melodic than a harmonic ornament. By the time of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), appoggiaturas were divided into two species: the short, which borrows an inconsiderable length from its main note and therefore has little effect on the harmony; and the long, which takes half or more of the length of its main note and therefore substantially affects the harmony, creating a dissonance that then resolves, on the main note, to a consonance. Because its purpose was mainly expressive, whether in purely melodic or harmonic terms, the typical appoggiatura in 17th- and 18th-century music occurred on the beat, rather than before it, "leaning" on the principal note, as suggested by the term's derivation
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