Non-chordal Notes

8/10/2019 Non-chordal Notes

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Non-chord notes (tones)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Example of nonchord tones (in red)

A nonchord toneor nonharmonic toneis a notein a piece of musicwhich is not a partof the implied harmonythat is described by the other notes sounding at the time.

Similarly a chord toneis a note which is a part of the current chord (see: factor (chord)).Nonchord tones are most often discussed in the context of music of the common

practice period, but can be used in analysis of other types of tonal musicas well.

Chordand nonchord tones are defined by their membership in a chord: "The pitches

which make up a chord are called chord-tones: any other pitches are called non-chord-

tones."[1]They are also defined by the time at which they sound: "Nonharmonic tones

are pitches that sound along with a chord but are not chord pitches."[2]

For example, if a piece of music is currently on a C Major chord, the notes CEG are

members of that chord, while any other note played at that time is a nonchord tone. Such

tones are most obvious in homophonicmusic but also often occur in contrapuntal music.

"Most nonharmonic tones are dissonantand create intervals of a second, fourthor

seventh",[2]which are required to resolveto a chord tone in conventional ways. If the

note fails to resolve until the next change of harmony, it may instead create a seventhchordor extended chord. While it is theoretically possible that for a three-note chord

there are (in equal temperament) nine possible nonchord tones, nonchord tones are

usually in the prevailing key. Augmented and diminished intervals are also considered

dissonant, and all nonharmonic tones are measured from the bass, or lowest note

sounding in the chord except in the case of nonharmonic bass tones.[2]

Nonharmonic tones generally occur in a pattern of three pitches, of which the

nonharmonic tone is the center:[2]1- 2- 3Preceding tone - Nonharmonic tone -Following tone (chord tone) - - (chord tone)Preparation - Dissonance - Resolution

Nonchord tones are distinguished through how they are used. The most important

distinction is whether they occur on a strong or weak beatand are thus accented or

unaccented.[2]They are also distinguished by their direction of approach and departureand the voice or voices in which they occur, and the number of notes they contain.

Over time some nonchord tones supposedly became chord tones, such as the seventh

in a seventh chord. In European classical music "The greater use of dissonance from

period to period as a result of the dialectic of linear/vertical forces led to gradual

normalization of ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth chords[in analysis and theory]; each

additional non-chord tone above the foundational triad became frozen into the chordal

mass."


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Anticipation

An anticipation(ANT) occurs when a note is played before the chord to which the

note belongs and then resolves when the "anticipated" chord is reached:

Neighbor tone

Neighboring tone.[4]

A neighbor tone(NT) or auxiliary note(AUX) is a nonchord tone that passesstepwise from a chord tone directly above or below it (which frequently causes

the NT to create dissonance with the chord) and resolves to the same chord

tone:

Upper neighbor tone

In practice and analysis, neighboring tones are sometimes differentiated depending upon

whether or not they are lower or higher than the chord tones surrounding them. A

neighboring tone that is a step higher than the surrounding chord tones is called an

upper neighboring toneor an upper auxiliary notewhile a neighboring tone that is a step

lower than the surrounding chord tones is a lower neighboring toneor lower auxiliary

note.

Incomplete Neighbor tone

An incomplete neighbor tone(IN) is a neighbor tone that has only onestepwise

connection with a consonant chord tone (instead of the normal two), the other

connection being a skip. Thus, instead of leaving a chord tone with a step up or

down and returning to the same chord tone in like manner, one of the chord

tones is left out (or skipped over) so the neighbor tone is only connected to one

of the chord tones making it incomplete.

IN's are generally written either:


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With a skipaway from a harmony tone to a non-chord tone, and resolved with a step

back to a harmony tone (usually in the opposite direction from the approach).

or

With a stepaway from a harmony tone to a non-chord tone, and resolved with a skip

back to a harmony tone (also usually in the opposite direction from the approach).

Escape tone

Escape tone.

An escape tone(ET) or echappeis a particular type of unaccented incompleteneighbor tone which is approached stepwise from a chord tone and resolved by a

skip in the opposite direction back to the harmony.

Passing tone

Passing tone.[5

A passing tone(PT) or passing noteis a nonchord tone prepared by a chord tone astep above or below it and resolved by continuing in the same direction stepwiseto the next chord tone (which is either part of the same chord or of the next chord

in the harmonic progression). Where there are two non-chord notes before the

resolution we have double passing tonesor double passing notes.

Passing tone


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AccentedPassing tone

As with above but on an accented beat.

Accented passing tone.[5]

Accented Neighbor toneAs with above but on an accented beat.

Suspension

Suspension.[6]

Suspension as an elided passing tone.[6]

A suspension(SUS) (sometimes referred to as a syncope[6]) occurs when theharmony shifts from one chord to another, but one or more notes of the first

chord (the "Preparation") are either temporarily held over into or are played againagainst the second chord (against which they are nonchord tones called the

"Suspension") before resolving to a chord tone stepwise (the "Resolution"). Note

that the whole process is called a suspension as well as the specific non-chord

tone(s):

Suspension

Suspensions may be further described using the number of the intervalforming the

suspension and its resolution; e.g. 4-3 suspension, 7-6 suspension, or 9-8suspension. Suspensions resolve downwards; otherwise it is a retardation. A

suspension must be preparedwith the same note (in the same voice) using a chord tone

in the preceding chord; otherwise it is an appoggiatura.


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2-3 suspension in Lassus's Beatus vir in sapientia, mm.23-24 Note that the suspended

tone is in the lower voice.

Decorated suspensions are common and consist of portamentosor double eighth notes,

the second being a lower neighbor tone.

A suspended chordis an added tone chordwith a "suspended" fourth or second as an

added tone which doesn't resolve.

A chain of suspensions constitutes the fourth species of counterpoint; an example may

be found in the second movement of Arcangelo Corelli's "Christmas Concerto".

Retardation (delay)

7-8 retardation.

A retardation(RE) is similar to a suspension except that it resolves upward instead ofdownward.

Appoggiatura

An appoggiatura(APP) is a type of accented incomplete neighbor tone approached

skip-wise from one chord tone and resolved stepwise to another chord tone.

Appoggiatura


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Nonharmonic bass

Nonharmonic bassnotes are bass notes which are not a member of the chord below

which they are written.

Nonharmonic bass: F, below a C major chord.

Examples include the Elektra chord.[8]

Involving more than three notes

Nota cambiata

A nota cambiatais a four note melodic figure and the forerunner of the 18th-century's

changing tones. The first and fourth notes are always consonant, while the

second and third may or may not be, and the second note is the nota cambiata

("changed note") itself.[9]

Nota cambiata.

Changing tones

Changing tones(CT) are two successive nonharmonic tones. A chord tone steps to anonchord tone which skips to another nonchord tone which leads by step to a

chord tone, often the same chord tone. They may imply neighboring tones with a

missing or implied note in the middle. Also called double neighboring tonesor

neighbor group.[2]


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Changing tones.

Pedal point

Another form of nonchord tone is a pedal pointor pedal tone(PD) or note, almost

always the tonicor dominant, which is held through a series of chord changes. The

pedal point is almost always in the lowest voice (the term originates from organplaying),

but it may be in an upper voice; then it may be called an inverted pedal. It may also be

between the upper and lower voices, in which case it is called an internal pedal.

Pedal point.

Chromatic nonharmonic tone

Chromatic nonharmonic tones (in red) in Frdric Chopin's op. 28, no. 21, mm. 1-4[10]

A chromatic nonharmonic toneis a nonharmonic tone that is chromatic, or outside ofthe keyand creates half-stepmotion. The use of which, especially chromaticappoggiaturasand chromatic passing tones, increased in the Romantic Period.[10]

Sources

1. Kroepel, Bob (1993). Mel Bay Creative Keyboard's Deluxe Encyclopedia of Piano

Chords: A Complete Study of Chords and How to Use Them, p.8. ISBN 978-0-

87166-579-9. Emphasis original.

2. abcdefBenward & Saker (2003). Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I, p.92.

Seventh Edition. ISBN 978-0-07-294262-0.

3. "Debussy and the Crisis of Tonality", p.72. Author(s): Roland Nadeau. Source: Music


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Educators Journal, Vol. 66, No. 1, (Sep., 1979), pp. 69-73. Published by: MENC:

The National Association for Music Education.

4. Jonas, Oswald(1982) Introduction to the Theory of Heinrich Schenker(1934: Das

Wesen des musikalischen Kunstwerks: Eine Einfhrung in Die Lehre Heinrich

Schenkers), p.89. Trans. John Rothgeb. ISBN 0-582-28227-6.

5.

^a

b

Jonas (1982), p.94.6. abcJonas (1982), p.96.

7. Benward & Saker (2009). Music in Theory and Practice, Vol. II, p.8. ISBN 978-0-07-

310188-0.

8. Lawrence Kramer. "Fin-de-sicle Fantasies: Elektra, Degeneration and Sexual

Science", Cambridge Opera Journal, Vol. 5, No. 2. (Jul., 1993), pp. 141-165.

9. Benward & Saker (2009), p.8.

10. ^ abBenward & Saker (2009), p.217-18.

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Non-chordal Notes