How to Play Ornaments on Piano: Grace Notes, Turns, Mordents and Trills
To ornament a piano melody, target the strong beat of each bar and decorate that note with a grace-note slide from below or above, an added diatonic upper third, a rolled chord, octaves with thirds, or a turn around the note, while keeping your timing steady.
Key points
- Ornament the strong beat of each bar rather than every note.
- Grace notes from below sound classical or bluesy; from above they sound Eastern.
- Release the grace note quickly and avoid pedal during the slide.
- Add diatonic upper thirds, rolled chords or octaves with thirds to thicken the melody.
- Turns circle above and below the target note before landing.
What this lesson teaches
The piano is a very what-you-see-is-what-you-get instrument. Unlike a violin, flute, trumpet or the human voice, it cannot slide between notes. Ornaments are how pianists borrow some of that expression. In this lesson Jason Zac takes one simple melody and decorates it in several ways, each linked to a different genre or culture. It suits intermediate players who can already play a melody with chords.
It helps to listen to violinists, flautists, singers, sitar or veena players to hear what you are aiming for, so the techniques feel natural rather than alien.
The melody
The tune is in 3/4 in G minor (two flats, Bb and Eb). It moves in groups of three notes:
- Eb D C
- Bb A G (cross your hand here)
- G F Eb, then land on the tonic G, or on Bb, the relative major
The chords are C minor, G minor, Eb major, then end on Bb major or G minor. Learn the plain melody first before adding anything.
Step 1: Choose the strong beats
Rather than simply playing beat one of each bar louder, ornament the note on beat one. In this melody those target notes are Eb, Bb, G and D. Do not ornament every note, only the strong beat.
Step 2: Grace notes (slides)
A grace note, which Jason also calls a ghost note, is a quick neighbouring note that slides into the target note.
- From below: sounds classical, Western or bluesy. In blues you can slide through the chromatic note between two scale notes, such as F# between G and F.
- From above: the same principle in reverse gives a more Eastern, Indian or Arabic flavour.
Flick the grace note and recoil that finger immediately, like striking in carrom. Do not hold it down, or the two notes clash as a minor second. Lift the pedal at the moment of the slide too. For a black-to-white slide one finger can do it, but also practise white-to-black, black-to-black and finger-to-finger slides. Keep the left hand simple: roots, or root and fifth.
Step 3: Slides with an upper third
A favourite of country and blues pianists: glide into the target note and add the note a third above it at the same time. Stay diatonic to G natural minor, so Eb takes G, Bb takes D, G takes Bb and D takes F. The grace-note finger leaves while the two target notes are struck together. Practise with different finger combinations.
Step 4: Chord embellishment and the flam
On each strong beat, play the chord of that bar voiced with the melody note on top, for example C minor inverted so Eb is the highest note. Play the remaining melody notes singly, which needs some finger independence, and use the pedal to connect. You can also waver on another chord note. For a flamenco sound, roll or flam the chord quickly, like strumming a guitar, in either direction.
Step 5: Octaves and octaves with thirds
Play the whole melody in octaves, ideally with the chords in the left hand. Then add a third inside each octave for a thick tenor layer. Map out your thirds first.
Step 6: Turns
A turn circles the target note, going both above and below it before landing. For example, on the way from D to C you can step above and below C before settling. The longer the note, the more you can fill in. You may also slip in a chromatic neighbour, but keep it soft like a ghost note. Turns can also carry the upper third from Step 3.
How to practise
- Learn the plain melody, then add one ornament type at a time.
- Keep the pulse steady: nod your head or use a metronome.
- Do not overdo it; choose ornaments that suit the mood and genre of the song.
Questions about this lesson
Which notes should I ornament in a piano melody?
Target the strong beat, usually beat one of each bar. Ornamenting every note becomes cluttered, while decorating the strong beats adds emphasis without simply playing louder.
Why does my grace note sound harsh?
You are probably holding the grace note or the pedal, so both notes sustain as a dissonant minor second. Flick the grace note and lift that finger immediately, and release the pedal at the slide.
What is the difference between a grace note from below and from above?
Sliding up from below gives a classical, Western or blues feel, while sliding down from above gives a more Eastern, Indian or Arabic character.
What is a turn on the piano?
A turn is an ornament that moves above and below the target note before landing on it. On longer notes you can add more notes, a soft chromatic neighbour or an upper third.
Practise it
- RunwayExplore runs, fills and licks with a chosen start and landing note.
- Voicing RoomA hands-on lesson room for piano chord voicings.
- Piano classes at Nathaniel School of MusicLive online or in Bangalore, with a teacher.
- All free music apps40 practice tools for harmony, rhythm, ear training and more.
Related lessons
- 5 Fancy Piano Chord Hacks to Transform a Simple TriadYou can make a plain major or minor triad sound far richer on piano by rolling it like a guitar strum, hammering on from the 2nd to the 3rd, adding double grace notes, using spread, fifth or cluster pop voicings, and slipping in a plagal IV chord over the same bass note.
- Country Piano Walk-Ups & Walk-Downs: Stepwise Fills With Grace and Ghost NotesCountry piano walk-ups and walk-downs connect the I, IV and V chords with stepwise scale notes in the bass, harmonised by diatonic thirds and a held anchor note (the root or fifth of the scale) in the right hand, often in a 3/4 waltz feel.
- How to Enhance a Simple Melody Without Chords (Piano)You can enrich a simple piano melody without any chords by moving single bass notes in the left hand, changing the landing note, flipping and shifting the melody's shape through scale degrees, stacking one harmony note below it as an alto voice, and adding a rhythmic groove.
- Piano Hand Independence Using Sixteenth Notes (Step by Step)To build piano hand independence with sixteenth notes, count every beat as 1 e & a, place a right-hand melody on chosen sixteenth-note hit points, and play a steady left-hand pulse of chords on the beats underneath it.