A nonchord tone, nonharmonic tone, or non-harmony note is a note in a piece of music which is not a part of the chord that is formed by the other notes sounding at the time. In Music, the term note has two primary meanings 1 a sign used in Musical notation to represent the relative duration and pitch of a Sound; Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. This article describes musical chords in traditional Western styles 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 music as well. The common practice period, in the history of European Art music (broadly called Classical music) spanning the Baroque, Classical, and Tonality is a system of Music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center" or tonic.
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. While such tones are most obvious in homophonic music, they can occur in contrapuntal music as well and often do - the vocal music of the Renaissance period (such as that by Vittoria, Palestrina, etc) is a good example. In Music, homophony (hoʊˈmɒfəni from Greek "homófonos" where ομοιο = the same and φωνή = a sound tone is a texture in which two or more In Music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and Rhythm, and interdependent in Harmony
A nonchord tone is a dissonance and is required to resolve to a chord tone in conventional ways. Resolution in western tonal Music theory is the "need" for a sounded Note and/or chord to move from a dissonance (an unstable sound If the note fails to resolve until the next change of harmony, it may instead create a seventh chord or extended chord. A seventh chord is a chord consisting of a triad plus a note forming an interval of a Seventh above the chord's root. 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. Equal temperament is a Musical temperament, or a system of tuning in which every pair of adjacent notes has an identical Frequency ratio. In Music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways
The following list is not exhaustive, but identifies the most common types of nonchord tones.
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Anticipation
- An anticipation occurs when a note is played before the chord to which the note belongs and resolves when the "anticipated" chord is reached:
Neighbor tone
- A neighbor tone or auxiliary note is a nonchord tone that passes from a chord tone directly above or below it and resolves to the same tone:
Image:Upper neighbour note example 1.PNG
In practice and analysis, neighboring tones are often 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 tone or an upper auxiliary note while a neighboring tone that is a step lower than the surrounding chord tones is a lower neighboring tone or lower auxiliary note.
Passing tone
- A passing tone or passing note is the nonchord tone of a part which had started at one chord tone and moved up or down through one or more nonchord tones and resolved to another chord tone (possibly of another chord, often of the same chord).
Suspension
- A suspension occurs when the harmony shifts from one chord to another, but one or more notes of the first chord are temporarily held over into the second in which they are nonchord tones before resolving to a chord tone:
Suspensions may be further described using the number of the interval forming the suspension and its resolution; e. In Music theory, the term interval describes the relationship between the pitches of two Notes Intervals may be described as vertical g. 4-3 suspension, 7-6 suspension. Most suspensions resolve downwards; the example shown above, a 7-8 suspension, is a rare example of an upwards resolution (also called a retardation). A suspension must be prepared with the same note (in the same voice) using a chord tone in the preceding chord; otherwise it is an appoggiatura.
A suspended chord is an added tone chord with a "suspended" fourth or second as an added tone which doesn't resolve. A suspended chord is a chord in which the Third is replaced or accompanied by either a Perfect fourth ( or a Major second ( although the fourth An added tone chord is a triadic chord with an extra "added" note such as the added Sixth.
Composing a chain of suspensions is the fourth species of counterpoint. In Music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and Rhythm, and interdependent in Harmony
Escape tone
- An escape tone or echappée is a movement by step in the opposite direction of the harmonic motion in that voice and is resolved by leap in the direction of harmonic motion:
Appoggiatura are sometimes used to provide this function. In Music, ornaments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to carry the overall line of the melody (or harmony but serve instead to decorate or "ornament"
Pedal point
Another form of nonchord tone is a pedal point or pedal tone or note, almost always the tonic or dominant, which is held through a series of chord changes. In tonal music, a pedal point (also pedal tone pedal note organ point or pedal is a Sustained tone typically in the bass, during which at least one The tonic is the first note of a musical scale in the tonal method of Musical composition. In Music, the dominant is the Fifth degree of the scale. For example in the C Major scale (white keys on a piano starting with C the The pedal point is almost always in the lowest voice (the term originates from organ playing), but it may be in an upper voice; then it may be called an inverted pedal. The organ (from Greek όργανον – organon "organ instrument tool" is a Keyboard instrument of one or more divisions each It may also be between the upper and lower voices, in which case it is called an internal pedal.
Nonharmonic bass
Nonharmonic bass notes are bass notes which are not a member of the chord they are written below. Examples include the Elektra chord. The Elektra chord is a "complexly dissonant signature- chord " and motivic elaboration used by Composer Richard Strauss
See also
In Music, ornaments are musical flourishes that are not necessary to carry the overall line of the melody (or harmony but serve instead to decorate or "ornament"Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic