97. Appoggiatura

Kyle and Emily jump from modern song writing to classical composing, as they explore the distinctly musical word appoggiatura.

They talk about appoggiatura’s roots in Italian and beyond. Its meaning was originally related to ‘support,’ but the word later came to be associated with embellishments in classical music. Kyle tells Emily about the techniques of Baroque musicians like Bach and Handel.

Kyle discusses the many ornamentations common in this era of music, and uses the iconic Happy Birthday song to demonstrate how appoggiaturas create suspense. But Emily also discovers the trouble this little note can cause, in sheet music notation and in the relationship between singer and composer.