Note 17 — CHAP. II.[16]

Appoggiatura is a Word to which the English Language has not an Equivalent; it is a Note added by the Singer, for the arriving more gracefully to the following Note, either in rising or falling, as is shewn by the Examples in Notes of Musick, Pl. II. Numb. 2. The French express it by two different Terms, Port de Voix and Appuyer; as the English do by a Prepare and a Lead. The Word Appoggiatura is derived from Appoggiare to lean on. In this Sense, you lean on the first to arrive at the Note intended, rising or falling; and you dwell longer on the Preparation, than the Note for which the Preparation is made, and according to the Value of the Note. The same in a Preparation to a Shake, or a Beat from the Note below. No Appoggiatura can be made at the Beginning of a Piece; there must be a Note preceding, from whence it leads.