Embellishing Tones – OPEN MUSIC THEORY (2024)

Chapter Playlist

Example1 reproduces Maria Szymanowska’s March no. 6, which we also saw in our discussion of strong predominants. You might have noticed that some of the notes in the bass in mm. 8–10 don’t fit our harmonic analysis. These notes, which are blue and circled in Example1, are collectively called “embellishing tones” because they embellish notes that belong to the chord. Embellishing tones can be grouped into three categories, which we describe below.

Example1. Embellishing tones in Maria Szymanowska, March no. 6 from Six Marches (0:00-0:16).

In nearly all cases, an embellishing tone is the middle note of a three-note gesture in which the first and last notes are consonant with the bass (Example 2). The actual embellishing tone itself may be either consonant or dissonant with the bass. In almost all cases, however, the embellishing tone is a note that doesn’t belong to the underlying chord.

Example1 showed the two kinds of embellishing tones that move by step: passing tones (PTs) and neighbor tones (NTs).Passing tones are approached by step and left by step in thesame direction, either ascending or descending (Example 3). Neighbor tones are approached by step and left by step in theopposite direction, producing either an upper neighbor or a lower neighbor (Example 4).

Example3. Passing tones in a two-voice texture, (a) ascending and (b) descending.

Example4. (a) Upper neighbor and (b) lower neighbor tones in a two-voice texture.

Examples 5 and 6 show the two kinds of embellishing tones that involve a leap: appoggiaturas (APPs) and escape tones (ETs). Appoggiaturas are approached by leap and left by step in the opposite direction (Example7). The appoggiatura typically occurs on a stronger part of the beat than its surrounding notes. Escape tones are approached by step and left by leap in the opposite direction (Example8). The escape tone typically occurs on a weaker part of the beat than its surrounding notes. It is more common for appoggiaturas and escape tones to be left by motion downward (Examples 7a and 8a) than upward (7b and 8b).

Example5. An appoggiatura in Joseph Boulogne, String Quartet no. 4, I, mm. 5–9 (0:09-0:19).

Example6. An escape tone in Margaret Casson, “The Cuckoo.”

Example7. Appoggiaturas in a two-voice texture.

Example8. Escape tones in a two-voice texture.

Examples 9–11show three of the four kinds of embellishing tones that involve static notes (i.e., notes that don’t move): suspensions (SUS), retardations (RET), and pedal tones (PED). A fourth kind of embellishing tone, the anticipation, deserves special comment below.

Suspensions are approached by a static note and left by step down, while retardations are approached by a static note and left by step up (Examples 9 and 10). Both suspensions and retardations are always on a stronger part of the beat than the surrounding notes. (Suspensions are discussed in greater detail in the chapter on fourth species counterpoint.)

Pedal tones are often found in the bass. They consist of a series of static notes below chord changes that do not include the bass. We typically label them using the scale degree number of the pedal note, as in Example 11.

Example9. Suspensions and a retardation in Joseph Boulogne’s String Quartet no. 4, I, mm. 47–49 (1:30–1:36).

Example10. (a) Suspension and (b) retardation in a two-voice texture.

Example11. Pedal tone in Josephine Lang’s “Dem Königs-Sohn,” mm. 16–18.

Anticipations

Like the suspension, retardation, and pedal tone, anticipations also involve static notes. But anticipations are a two-note (rather than three-note) gesture, in which a chord tone is heard early as a non-chord tone (Example12). In other words, it “anticipates” its upcoming membership in a chord.

Example12. An anticipation in Josephine Lang’s “Erinnerung,” mm. 29–30 (1:54–1:59).

The table in Example13 provides a summary of the embellishing tones covered in this chapter.

Example13. Summary of embellishing tones.

Assignments

1. Embellishing tones (.pdf, .docx). Asks students to write embellishing tones in a two-voice texture and label embellishing tones in an excerpt.