Mordents and the turn
Two more small-symbol ornaments. The mordent is a single quick flip to a neighbour note and back. The turn is a little four-note curl around the note.
The symbols
(P = the written note · U = the step above · L = the step below)
| Symbol | Ornament | Play |
|---|---|---|
| a short zigzag, no line | upper mordent | P – U – P, fast |
| a short zigzag with a vertical line | lower mordent | P – L – P, fast |
| a lazy sideways S | turn | U – P – L – P |
| the S with a vertical stroke (or drawn upside-down) | inverted turn | L – P – U – P |
Where the turn sits matters: directly above a note → play it on that note. Offset to the right, between two notes → a delayed turn: hold the first note, then curl into the next. And an accidental above the sign bends the top note of the ornament; below it, the bottom note.
A mordent, slowed down
A turn, slowed down
The naming trap
In a modern edition, "upper mordent" and "lower mordent" mean exactly what the table above says. But in Baroque usage the bare word "mordent" meant only the lower one (P–L–P). The upper flip had its own names — Pralltriller or Schneller — and, depending on context, its own slightly different execution.
So the same zigzag can mean different things in a Bach edition and a modern one. Recognise the shape, note the era, and don't lose sleep over it.
Try it
Try
On the B (1st finger, A string): play B–C–B as fast as you cleanly can, then stop. That's an upper mordent. Now C–B–A–B, fast, then stop — a turn. These two turn up constantly in Classical music; get them into the fingers slowly first.
The usual mistake
Playing the turn's four notes as even, deliberate sixteenths — it should sound like a single gesture decorating the beat, not a scale fragment. And on the mordent, mixing up the two kinds: no line through the zigzag goes up; a line through it goes down.