Non-Chord Tones: Passing, Neighbour, Suspension and More
A non-chord tone is a note that sounds over a chord without belonging to it. Here are the main types, how each is approached and left, and how to write them.
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A non-chord tone is a note that sounds over a chord without belonging to it. Its type is set by how it is approached and how it leaves: passing and neighbour tones move by step, appoggiaturas arrive by leap and leave by step, escape tones leave by leap, and suspensions are held over from the previous chord before they resolve down. The chord is always the reference, so the first task is to decide what the chord is.
Identify the chord before naming the note
Under each melody note, find the chord from the bass and the other voices on that beat. A chord tone belongs to that chord, and any other note is a non-chord tone. The check has to be done beat by beat. A note can be a chord tone in one chord and a non-chord tone in the chord before it, and that is the basis of the anticipation.
Once a note is marked as a non-chord tone, name it by two questions: how it is approached from the previous note, and how it leaves toward the next one. Then note whether it falls on a strong or a weak beat, because the metric position narrows the likely types.
| Type | Approached by | Left by | Usual position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passing tone | step, same direction | step, same direction | weak beat, unaccented |
| Neighbour tone | step, from a chord tone | step back to the same chord tone | weak beat, unaccented |
| Appoggiatura | leap | step, usually downward | strong beat, accented |
| Escape tone | step | leap in the opposite direction | weak beat |
| Anticipation | step or leap | the chord changes to the note’s own chord | short, on a weak beat |
| Suspension | held over from the previous chord | step down to a chord tone | strong beat, accented |
| Pedal | sustained across changing chords | leaves when the sustained note stops | often the bass |
Passing and neighbour tones fill the gaps between chord tones
A passing tone moves stepwise between two chord tones that are a third apart. In C major, the notes G, F and E are a passing line: G and E are chord tones of C major, and F is the passing note between them. The motion continues in one direction, which is what makes it “passing” rather than a turn.
Here the chord sounds first, and then the line descends: G and E are chord tones, F and D are passing tones, and C is the chord tone that ends the line. The F and D are not part of C major’s chord, but they are short, unaccented, and move on by step.
A neighbour tone steps away from a chord tone and then returns to the same note. An upper neighbour steps above and a lower neighbour steps below. The melody stays on a single chord tone and decorates it, so the listener hears the note as ornamentation rather than harmony. Neighbour tones are often unaccented and sit on weak beats.
Appoggiaturas and escape tones are defined by their leap
An appoggiatura is approached by a leap and then left by a step, almost always down. Its name comes from the Italian for “leaning”, because the note leans on the following chord tone. On a strong beat, the dissonance it creates is clear to the ear, which is why composers use appoggiaturas for expressive emphasis.
Over a C major chord, the line C, F, E is the standard pattern. The F is a fourth above the C; it leaps in from C and falls by step to E, a chord tone.
Play over a C major chord and listen for the F leaning on the E.
The escape tone, sometimes called the échappée, is the reverse of the appoggiatura. It is approached by a step and left by a leap in the opposite direction, and the leap lands on a chord tone. Over C major, the line E, D, G uses the D as an escape tone: E steps down to D, and then the melody leaps up a fourth to G.
Combined with an upper neighbour, the two types form a short melody over the same chord:
The D is an escape tone, the A is an upper neighbour to the G, and the G and E and C are chord tones of C major. The melody is one line over one chord, so the ear reads the decoration against the stable harmony.
Suspensions hold a note across the change and resolve down
A suspension is a chord tone of the previous chord that is held into the next chord, where it becomes a non-chord tone on a strong beat. It then resolves by stepping down to a chord tone. The sequence has three stages: preparation (the note sounds as a chord tone), suspension (it is held and clashes with the new harmony), and resolution (it steps down).
The suspension is named by its interval above the bass before it resolves. A 4–3 suspension has a fourth above the bass that falls to a third. A 7–6 has a seventh that falls to a sixth, and a 9–8 has a ninth that falls to an octave. When the held note resolves upward, the figure is called a retardation.
In four voices, the F of an F major chord can be held over a C chord, and then fall to E:
The first chord is F major. The second has a C in the bass, and the F in the top voice is held from the first chord. Against the bass C, that F is a fourth above the bass, and it clashes. The third chord resolves it, since the top voice steps down to E, a third above C. The suspension is the held F in the middle chord, and the suspended chords article covers the same fourth when it is written as a chord symbol.
Pedals and anticipations sit at the edges of the category
A pedal is a note, usually in the bass, that sustains while the harmony above it changes. The pedal note may be a chord tone at one moment and a non-chord tone at the next, and the analysis depends on the upper voices. A dominant pedal under changing chords, for example, is heard as a dominant that refuses to resolve.
An anticipation is a note of the next chord played early, usually short and on a weak beat, before the chord changes. In a melody over C that moves to F, the F sounded just before the F chord arrives is an anticipation. It is not a passing tone, because the chord change follows it.
Where this misleads people
The most common error is analysing against the key rather than against the chord under the note. In C major, the F is a chord tone in an F major chord and a non-chord tone over C. Name the chord first, then the note.
The second error is treating every non-chord tone as decoration. A 4–3 suspension at a cadence is structural: it tells the listener that the phrase is ending, and removing it changes the close. Passing and neighbour tones are often ornamental, but a suspension can carry the harmonic argument of a whole phrase.
The third error is confusing the rhythm with the type. A passing tone on a strong beat is an accented passing tone, and the accent changes its effect. The name still depends on approach and departure, and the beat is a secondary check.
What to do with it
Take eight bars of a simple melody, such as a folk tune in a major key. Write a chord symbol under each strong beat, then mark every melody note that is not in its chord. For each one, name the type using the table, and check the approach and departure. The escape tone and the anticipation are often the hardest to spot, so mark those first.
Next, write an eight-bar melody over I, V, vi and IV in C major, using one passing tone, one neighbour tone, one appoggiatura and one suspension. Put each one on the beat the table suggests. The voice leading in four parts article explains how these notes move in multiple voices, and first species counterpoint explains why the exercise excludes them entirely. Second species is where passing and neighbour tones become legal. Play the result on the virtual piano to hear each decoration against the chord that carries it.
Questions
What is a non-chord tone?
A non-chord tone is a melody or voice note that is not one of the chord's notes at that moment. It is heard as an embellishment or a dissonance, and it is named by how it is approached and how it leaves.
What is the difference between a passing tone and a neighbour tone?
A passing tone moves by step between two chord tones a third apart, continuing in the same direction. A neighbour tone steps away from a chord tone and returns to the same note. Both are usually on weak beats and unaccented.
What is an appoggiatura?
An appoggiatura is a non-chord tone approached by a leap and left by a step, usually down. It is normally on a strong beat, where its dissonance is most noticeable, and it is the classic way a melody begins a phrase cadence.
How is a suspension different from a passing tone?
A suspension is held over from the previous chord into a strong beat, where it clashes with the new chord or bass, and then steps down to a chord tone. A passing tone is not held over and does not need a preparation.
