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Two grace notes distinguished by a single diagonal stroke through the stem, instructing very different treatments of the beat.
A small note with a plain stem is an appoggiatura and takes its time from the note it leans on โ conventionally about half of it, so the main note is genuinely shortened. A small note with a diagonal stroke through the stem is an acciaccatura and is played as fast as possible, taking almost nothing. The stroke is the only difference on the page, and it is easily lost in a poor reproduction, which is why an ambiguous grace note is worth checking against another edition rather than guessing.
One stroke through the stem is the whole difference.
Drawn from the visual attributes recorded for each symbol. Only traits the two records disagree about are listed.
| Trait | Appoggiatura | Acciaccatura |
|---|---|---|
| Struck through | Not struck through | Crossed by a bar or line |
| ย | Appoggiatura | Acciaccatura |
|---|---|---|
| Stem | Plain, with no stroke through it. | Struck through by a single diagonal stroke. |
| Time taken | A substantial share of the following note, conventionally about half. | As little as possible; the main note keeps effectively its full value. |
| Effect on the beat | The main note is shortened and displaced. | The main note lands where it would have anyway. |
| Relationship (from Symbolwise's records) | Commonly confused with Acciaccatura โ One stroke through the stem is the whole difference. | Commonly confused with Appoggiatura โ One stroke through the stem is the whole difference. |
Wikipedia ยท retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for what a mark instructs a performer to do and for uncontested history, never for a claim that any body defines staff notation.
Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation
Faber Music ยท retrieved 2026-08-23
The standard modern engraving reference. Cited for prescribed usage where no standards body exists โ music notation has no regulator, and this is the nearest thing the profession has to one. NOT READ in full for this sprint; cited for conventions that are uncontested.
Standard Music Font Layout (SMuFL)
W3C Music Notation Community Group ยท retrieved 2026-08-23
The open specification assigning a code point and a canonical name to every music notation glyph in common use. Openly published and read for the glyph names cited. The full text is NOT REPRODUCED here and has NOT BEEN READ in full; records cite it for the existence, issuing body and defined form of a mark. See docs/paywalled-standards.md.
Both are drawn as one continuous decorative stroke with a closed loop and a tail that crosses back over itself, which is why a description of the shape alone reaches both. The clef is far taller, spans a stave, and its spiral encircles one specific line โ that encircled line is the note G, and it is the only reason the shape is drawn where it is.
Check where the dot sits. A dot immediately to the right of the notehead adds half the note's value again โ a dotted half note lasts three beats. A dot directly above or below the head means staccato: play it short and detached. One dot, two opposite instructions, and only position distinguishes them.
They occupy the same place and are read the same way. A C means four-four; two stacked numerals state any metre explicitly. The C is not an abbreviation of the word 'common' โ it descends from a broken circle used in medieval notation to mean imperfect time, and a full circle meant threefold time.
Length is the tell. A crescendo hairpin is drawn long, below a stave, and spans the passage it applies to โ its extent *is* the instruction. A less-than sign is one character wide and sits between two values. If it stretches, it is music; if it fits between two numbers, it is mathematics.