Posted by Lisa Long on January 06, 1999 at 13:48:34:
In Reply to: mordents in music posted by Lisa on November 06, 1998 at 00:23:06:
: I'm confused about mordents: does that include trills, turns etc? When do you play the trill ON the note written and when do you play it on beginning on the note above, same with turns.
: Also, does anyone know of a good jazz link to help me with my chording? I need to learn all of the 7ths, blues scales etc. Thank You! I appreciate it.
A trill is the rapid alternation between the written note and the note above it where the alternations continue for the entire length of the written note. On music written before the 16th
century the trill went from the written note to the note below it.
A mordent on the other hand is a single rapid alternation from the written note to the note below it and back to the original note then which is then held for the remaining length of the
written note.
An inverted mordent goes from the note to the note above it, then back to the written note.
A long mordent has two alternations.
There is not much difference between a trill and an inverted mordent when appilied to a short note such as a 16th. But there is a big difference when applied to a whole note.