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Melodies can be made of any combination of notes. When a note in the melody is also a note in the chord composed with the melody, those notes are called chord tones. When a note is not part of a chord, the notes are called nonchord or nonharmonic tones. To determine whether a note is a nonchord tone, first figure out what the chord tones are for each chord. Notes that are not part of the chord are nonchord tones. For instance, if you have a melody with the notes C, D, and E, and there is a C major chord (C, E, G) with those melody notes, then D is the nonchord tone (D is not part of the C major chord). Nonchord tones come in a few varieties. Although nonchord tones can be any note between chord tones, including chromatics (C# and D# for the example above), for these exercise only use notes in the key, in this case, C major.

Passing Tones A passing tone is a note that is between two chord tones. You “pass through” the nonchord tone to the chord tone. In the example below, the “highlighted” notes in the melody are passing tones. Notice how they are not part of the chord given below the melody line:

W O R k S h e e TMelodic Nonchord Tones

exercise 1: Draw in passing tones in boxes a, b, c, and d below.

Teaching Music Through Composition

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Neighboring Tones A neighboring tone is a nonchord tone a step above (upper neighbor) or below (lower neighbor) a chord tone:

exercise 2: Draw in neighboring tones in the boxes below. Use two upper neighbors and two lower neighbors.

Melody

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escape ToneAn escape tone is a nonchord tone that is between two chords. It most commonly occurs as step upward (escaping away from the chord tone) and resolves down by a skip (a third) to the second chord.

exercise 3: In the example below, the first chord tone is given over the first chord. Draw in the escape tone and the resolution tone for the second chord.

Teaching Music Through Composition

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AppoggiaturaAn appoggiatura is the opposite of the escape tone. It is a nonchord tone made by a skip and resolved by a step in the opposite direction to a chord tone. An appoggiatura is also different in that it occurs on the chord not between them. When a nonchord tone occurs on the chord and not between them, it is said to be accented. Notice how the nonchord tone, the appoggiatura, is accented. It occurs on the chord, while the resolution occurs after the chord has been played (unaccented).

exercise 4: In the example below, the first chord tone is given over the first chord. Draw in the appoggiatura and the resolu-tion tone for the second chord.

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AnticipationAn anticipation is a nonchord tone that is a step above or below the chord tone and remains the same in the next chord. It is basically a note of the second chord played early and not on the beat.

exercise 5: In the example below, the first chord tone is given over the first chord. Draw in the anticipation and the resolution tone for the second chord.