Like chads, sometimes the little tiny things in life are hard to figure
out.  Take, for example, grace notes.  I've been playing chamber music for
25 years now and still get into arguments about how the dang things should
be played.  Before the beat? On the beat? Full value? Half value? What's
the difference between a plain ol grace note and one with a little line
through it? Accented? Slurred into the next note?

It depends on the style and time period, of course, which helps a lot in
the decision-making.  Then you get into the "Romantic" period, and grace
notes in Dvorak, for instance, take on enormous significance; a grace note
just right in a Dvorak trio gives it that wonderful Czech folky feel, but
if it's brushed off it can sound banal or just completely unimportant.
Grace notes to me are always a mystery, and one of the only things that has
survived into the 20th century that composers leave, improvisation-like, to
the discretion of the performers.  Which means that we have to get it
"right".

So let me ask a question to the group, create a little virtual master class
if you will. Please listen to a recording of ours, the Poco Adagio of the
famous G Major Haydn trio. The URL is

   http://artists.mp3s.com/artist_song/713/713407.html

We had a lot of discussion about the grace notes in this movement. On the
beat? Exactly in rhythm? A little before the beat? Fast? Slow? What we came
up with was slightly before the beat, expressive. I was for playing them
right on the beat, but this made the melody sound kind of funny and less
fluid. Goodness, the time we spent talking about these little tiny notes!
What do y'all think? Are they "right" for the style? Do they enhance the
melody? Do they create tension or take it away? Would a "HIP" group do it
differently?

Looking forward to hearing what you all have to say about this!

David Runnion
http://mp3.com/serafinotrio
http://mp3.com/stations/classicalmp3 -- Mp3 Picks Radio