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A small extra staff offering an alternative passage.
Also known as: Alternative passage, Ossia bar
An ossia is a small staff printed above the main one offering an alternative version — an easier reading, an editorial suggestion, or a variant from another source. Whose alternative it is matters and is not always stated.
Prints an alternative version of a passage on a small staff above the main one.
Contexts: Music
May be the composer's alternative, an editor's suggestion or a variant reading from another source, and a critical edition says which where the difference matters.
Contexts: Music
A short staff of five lines printed at reduced size directly above part of the main staff.