MDP Theory Red Week 4 Embellishing Tones • Pitches that decorate or connect more important or stable pitches. • They exist not only in melody, but in harmonic frame work. When they are dissonant against the harmony they are called nonchord tones. • Distinguished by the way they are approached and left • Step-step combinations • Step-leap combinations • Step-repetition combinations Step-step combinations • Passing tones: pass stepwise between notes • Chromatic passing tones: pass stepwise between two notes a tone apart. • Diatonic passing tones: pass stepwise between chord members. • Accented or unaccented • Abbreviation: PT Passing tones Diatonic passing tones: Chromatic passing tones PT PT PT PT PT & œ ˙ œ b˙ ˙ #œ ˙ #œ ˙ Œ Ó Piano ˙ œ ˙ ˙ bw ˙ ˙ ˙ ? w ˙ ˙ Œ Ó {3 & ∑ ∑ ∑ Pno. ? ∑ ∑ ∑ { Step-step combinations • Neighbour tones: pitches that lie a step (or half step) above or below a consonant tone and its repetition. • Upper neighbour tones: those that lie above the consonant tone • Lower neighbour tones: those that lie below the consonant tone • Accented or unaccented • Abbreviation: NT Neighbour tones Lower neighbours Upper neighbours (chromatic neighbours) NT NT NT NT NT NT 6 ˙ œ œ œ œ &4 œ œ œ #œ œ ™ œ œ œ œ œ Piano œ œ œ #œ ˙™ ˙™ ˙ ? 6 ™ ˙™ ˙ ˙™ ˙™ { 4 œ ˙™ ˙ œ Step-leap combinations • Appoggiatura: Approached by leap and resolved by step • Dissonance is usually stronger than its resolution, however unaccented appoggiaturas do occur. • Abbreviation: APP Appoggiatura Step-leap combinations • Escape tone: the opposite of the appoggiatura. Approached by step and left by leap. • Normally accented • Abbreviation: ET Escape tone Step-leap combinations • Changing tones: upper and lower neighbour tones of a repeated pitch. The repeated pitch occurs at the beginning and end of the figure. • Interval motion: step-leap-step • Abbreviation: CT Changing tones Step-repetition combinations This last group of nonchord tones differ from the others in that they are temporal displacements of existing tones, rather than extra tones added for embellishment. Step-repetition combinations • Anticipation: One voice moves by step to its next tone before the other voices move. (Gets to the next chord early). • Forms a dissonance against existing voices until they, too, move. Pitch is then repeated but is no longer dissonant. • Most commonly found in cadences (melody arrives at the tonic prematurely) • Abbreviation: ANT Anticipation Step-repetition combinations • Suspension: pitch is repeated or sustained prior to its stepwise resolution to a more stable tone. The resolution is downward. • If the resolution is upward it is called a retardation • Arrive at the next chord late • The suspended dissonance is usually metrically stronger than its resolution • Common suspensions: 9-8, 7-6, 4-3, 2-3. • Abbreviations: SUS or RET Suspensions and retardations • Comprise three notes: • 1. consonant pitch – preparation (p) • 2. its repetition, usually dissonant against a voice that has changed pitch – dissonance (d) • 3. stepwise resolution to a pitch once again consonant – resolution (r) Suspension Retardation Embellishing Tones • Step-step combinations • Passing tone (PT) • Neighbour tone (NT) • Step-leap combinations • Changing tone (CT) • Appoggiatura (APP) • Escape tone (ET) • Step-repetition combinations • Anticipation (ANT) • Suspension (SUS) • Retardation (RET) .