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Questions tagged [nonchord-tones]

For questions related to non-chord tones, also known as non-harmonic tones or embellishing tones.

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neighboring tones vs passing tones

My question is quite simple: I'm not quite clear on the difference between neighboring tones and passing tones. I haven't found any really helpful sites online that explain this, either. If someone ...
qi.uuu's user avatar
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2 answers
101 views

Are All The Notes Not Part Of A Chord Non Chord Tones?

I ask because the main melody is in A chord, but it contains a lot of non chord tones. For example, I can say the F# is an escape tone since it is approached by step from E and left by skip to A. But ...
t_t's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
37 views

How do you differentiate approach note from target note?

I am trying to get a grasp on differentiating approach notes from target notes in five-part solis voicing. But definition of target notes seems to include tensions. Then ambiguity is certainly ...
Sean's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
203 views

how do you read this chord?

The excerpt is in C# minor. C# is present in what is apparently a dominant seventh chord in m.14. How should I interpret presence of tonic in the dominant chord? Is that what's called a pedal tone? (...
Sean's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
297 views

non-harmonic tones question

the picture above is an answer to an exercise that shows unaccented passing tone. I thought the blue circled note was also an unaccented passing tone, but it is not included in the answer set. How is ...
Sean's user avatar
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1 vote
3 answers
82 views

Are suspensions 9-8, 7-6... ignorant of Major or minor intervals?

In the above picture in measure 2, suspension 7-6 is shown. It is from E to D and C. I counted the semitones, they turn out to be minor 7th and minor 6th apart and not Major 7th and 6th. So I wonder, ...
Sean's user avatar
  • 1,701
3 votes
7 answers
985 views

What do non-chord tones do in a melody?

In the book that I am reading, I came across this passage (picture below). But the author just tells the reader to 'consider the difference', and passes on to the next subject without explaining much. ...
Sean's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
1k views

Why do some sheet-music arrangements harmonize anticipation notes?

Throughout this arrangement from the song "Don't look back in anger" by the band "Oasis" the arranger seems to harmonize the anticipated melody note as shown in green. But the ...
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3 votes
2 answers
123 views

Is there a 4-3 bass suspension?

This is a very common upper voice suspension but I was wondering if it is a thing in counterpoint or some classical styles to have it in the bass?
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2 votes
4 answers
183 views

Are the intervals in the pentatonic scale all considered steps?

When studying non-chord tones all the definitions use steps in the diatonic sense, but what about non-chord tones in pentatonic melodies? Are melodies written in pentatonic scales considered "...
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5 votes
5 answers
808 views

Bach prelude in C major: unresolved suspension?

I know that in the common practice style, even in free composition where guidelines don't apply strictly, a dissonant suspension must resolve. In the WTC 1 prelude in C major, bar 20 is a C dominant ...
OprenStein's user avatar
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3 answers
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Is there another name for a suspension that creates a chord in the given key?

Here's a progression of a German 6th chord to V in C minor: But that creates parallel perfect fifths between the alto and bass(Ab-G, Eb-D). Since I'm lazy, instead of fixing that, I cover it up with ...
OprenStein's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
146 views

Can passing tones have neighbor tones?

I am asking about the notes colored in red. Also, the notes colored in green are a bit confusing, is there a special name for this type of figure since it comes back to the same tone before moving on ...
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1 vote
2 answers
214 views

unexplained sus4 progress in bach's choral

score is measure 2 in Bach 371 Chorales No.5 'An Wasserflüssen Babylon' in G major i think beat 2 is v7sus4 but if G in DDGC is suspension note, G in previous chord(AEGB) is must be Harmonic Tone in ...
guss2222's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
285 views

Ambiguous chords in Bach's "Ich dank dir lieber Herre" setting (BWV 347)

The image above shows, from Bach 371 Chorales, No. 2 "Ich dank dir lieber Herre" in A major, measures 11 and 12. I'm very confused by this part. 1. first red square, Is that chord I or vi56? ...
guss2222's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
49 views

Can a suspension resolve by step in 16th notes?

Here is an example of what I mean. The "suspension" is prepared, restruck and 9 does go to 8 but the 8 is a passing 16th note so I don't know of this counts as resolving the suspension ...
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6 votes
5 answers
515 views

How to tell an accented from an unaccented auxiliary note?

Please see this answer from the answer book to my harmony workbook exercise. Why is the auxiliary note on beat 2 an unaccented auxiliary note (aux. for short) while the auxiliary note on beat 4 is ...
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3 votes
1 answer
78 views

How to go about writing multiple melody notes in between chords

In my music theory instruction, we are taught how to utilize one nct between two chords in a chord progression (i.e. check voices for direct and hidden parallel fifths and octaves between chords on ...
Philomath_theory's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
87 views

Preparing a suspension by using non-chord tones in the bassline

Is there some kind of technical name for a suspension that is prepared by the bassline before the next harmony starts? So let's say that the note in question is not part of either of the two harmonies ...
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1 vote
5 answers
340 views

Can a suspension resolve by leap downwards?

Here is an example of what I mean. In the below excerpt from Coldplay's "Don't Panic", the note E is accented and comes after the note F in the previous bar. I have not included this as it ...
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5 votes
3 answers
151 views

Does tempo affect use of non-harmony notes?

Writing a four part piece for strings at a very slow tempo (55 bpm). On paper, it seems as though the non-chord notes I have selected should work, but I am finding some of them jarring. I am unsure if ...
EdB123's user avatar
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What is it called when the melody note is held, but the chord changes to resolve to the final harmony?

I noticed a pattern that I would love to have a name for: The second to last note in the melody of a phrase occurs together with a chord. The melody note is held, but the chord changes. Now the melody'...
sorokine's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
1k views

In the Key of C minor what would a D major chord be?

In the Key of C minor what would a D major chord be? The D major is part of a three chord progression. It's preceded by C minor and followed by G major (2nd inversion).
whymatt's user avatar
  • 11
3 votes
1 answer
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Denoting multiple suspensions in figured bass Roman numeral analysis

When composing a figured bass Roman numeral analysis for a chord that has more than one suspension, is it typical to denote both suspensions, as I have done at the end of my analysis?
Nakul Tiruviluamala's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
119 views

How would this nonchord tone be labeled? Is it a retardation?

I'm working on an analysis of a song, and there is a section where the phrase starts off on this E-natural note over a B-flat major triad. This is the first note of the melody line. Since it isn't ...
Lennon_Ashton's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
226 views

How would these nonchord tones from Beethoven's Pathétique Sonata best be analyzed?

Hi everyone. I'm working on an analysis of Movement II from Beethoven's Pathétique Sonata. In the measures shown in the image, I am trying to analyze the nonchord tones that occur in the chromatic ...
Lennon_Ashton's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
285 views

Name for this non-chord tone: approach by step then leap in the same direction

Is there a name for the non-cord tone that is described as: an approached by step and then a leap in the same direction? As in (suppose the key of D minor): F-G-D, or D-C#-F?
Oliver G's user avatar
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6 votes
3 answers
418 views

Playing semitones consecutively and naming notes

I am learning piano and I am a music novice, so please respond adequately to this :) I have a question about naming notes. If we have a D chord and in walking bass during this chord we follow these ...
mng's user avatar
  • 73
2 votes
2 answers
111 views

What is this chord in Schubert's D. 531?

Consider following extract from Schubert's Der Tod und das Mädchen (D. 531) : I assume that the indicated chord in the penultimate bar can be seen as a transition between the chords of D major and A ...
Karlo's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
423 views

Stepwise bass movement/intermediate (passing) harmony technique

A song I like adds great motion to an otherwise simple progression by adding passing tones in the bass line, leaving the other harmonies unaltered. Please see the following transcription: Does this ...
286642's user avatar
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5 votes
8 answers
1k views

Going from ♭VI to I

I have seen and heard a bVI -> I progression in quite a few scores to create an inspiring feeling (for example, from an F major chord to an A major chord) and was wondering how this could be ...
Johncowk's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
404 views

Is this an appoggiatura?

Would you call the A going to G in the second group of 16th notes here an appoggiatura? It seems to fit the definition because it is approached by a leap. However, what makes me feel unsure is that ...
John MC's user avatar
  • 607
2 votes
3 answers
3k views

What are Échapées and Cambiatas?

I'm taking an introductory course in Music Theory and got stuck on this part. The way my textbook explains it to me is quite confusing, so if anybody could help with a simple explanation it would be ...
heehee's user avatar
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15 votes
1 answer
4k views

Why is it called a 9-8 suspension instead of 2-1 suspension?

I know that usually suspensions are referred to by simple intervals, and this is the case with almost all suspensions (4-3, 7-6, 2-3, etc). However, we call it 9-8 suspension instead of 2-1 suspension....
Bad At Music Theory's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
111 views

Would this note from Consolation No. 3 be considered a nonchord tone?

I was playing through Consolation No. 3 by Liszt yesterday, and I had a theory question about something. In the second measure of this picture, the harmony is an E major triad. This section is in A ...
Lennon_Ashton's user avatar
6 votes
5 answers
2k views

Thomas Tank Engine theme tune chord sequence - why does it work?

I'm trying to gain some understanding of non-diatonic chord sequences and why they work. I've been listening to the Thomas the Tank Engine theme tune which I believe is in the key of C Major and the ...
user307927's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
188 views

Are these upper voices in this final passage from Handel a bona fide F7 chord or some kind of non-chord tones?

Handel. Preludes, Air, and Lesson... http://hz.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/e/e8/IMSLP12246-Handel_-_Preludes,Air%26_Lesson.pdf EDIT I was complete off the mark with this. The only excuse I can ...
Michael Curtis's user avatar
3 votes
4 answers
1k views

What are these "advanced or unknown" nonchord tones that I haven't found out on wiki or other sites?

Nonchord tone (Wikpedia) is one of sources I've learned it from. I'm analyzing nonchord tones on Charlie Puth's song, Attention, to get used to them. However, some of them, I call "unknown" nonchord ...
Pith's user avatar
  • 253
4 votes
1 answer
1k views

What does Decorated Suspension, a type of nonchord tone, mean in this below explanation?

I'm learning about decorated suspension. But I don't understand the explanation below. Could you guys help me with this? P/s: I type the script of explanation below, so you guys with smartphone ...
Pith's user avatar
  • 253
4 votes
1 answer
729 views

How to write Roman numeral figures for non-chord tones (NCT) and inversions, triads and seventh chords?

What Roman numeral figures distinguish a 2nd inversion dominant triad with a NCT fourth from a root position dominant 7th chord with a NCT fourth? Related to How writing a dominant 7 sus4 chord in ...
Michael Curtis's user avatar
5 votes
4 answers
835 views

Can this note be analyzed as a non-chord tone?

I know that post-tonal and popular music can't always be analyzed through the same methods as the Common Practice Period, but I still like to see how people would try analyzing things. This is a ...
Lennon_Ashton's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
208 views

Do I have to prepare and resolve non-chord tones in certain ways?

I keep getting feedback from certain people on a classical music forum that I prepare and resolve my dissonances wrongly and that my counterpoint is off. And this is regardless of what type of ...
Caters's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
144 views

HARMONY- Neighbour note

Can the 7th note of a chord be a neighbour note? For example if we have the Em (E,G,B,D) can the D be a neighbour note if we have E - D - E?
Musiclove's user avatar
2 votes
4 answers
1k views

Harmony - Non-Chord Tones in Bass?

I am just working on my harmony 9, and I am wondering if you can have non-chord tones in the bass?
user52149's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
311 views

What are these non-chord tones in the Jackson Five's "Want you Back"?

for example could u play a neighbour tone twice or got from a chord tone to an nct then to another nct. I was looking at jackson 5's want you back and this appeared to be the case this is written in ...
Sa'dMaudarbux's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
290 views

Can anyone help with the use of a "Non Chord tone" in Arctic Monkeys' "R U Mine?"

I've recently had a go at analysing Arctic Monkeys' song R U Mine and was wondering about this part shown here: The key of the song is F# minor and and the measure shown starts with a non-chord tone....
Sa'dMaudarbux's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
289 views

4 consecutive non-chord tones

Looking at the first measure of the chorus in Ecuador https://www.hooktheory.com/theorytab/view/sash/ecuador I have noticed that at the end of the measure there are four consecutive non-chord tones: c#...
uff's user avatar
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0 votes
4 answers
850 views

What's the term for ending a melody on a non chord tone? [closed]

If i play a melody with a static chord rhythm of 1 the tonic chord (G major in this case) but if i end the melody on a non chord tone, lets say a C note. What is the term for that? The last note of a ...
Janice Cee's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
250 views

Is Non-chord Tone always the top note?

I have two questions: The first question is as stated in the title. I very often see in the textbook demostration, that a non chord tone is the top note, would it be possible for the inner voice to ...
Dong Dong's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
976 views

Unaccented Appoggiatura

I'm looking to categorize a non-chord note that occurs before a chord note. The non-chord note occurs on the offbeat and the chord note can occur offbeat or on beat, it doesn't really matter. I've ...
02fentym's user avatar
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