EDM.8c covered passing tones—scale notes that connect one chord tone to another by step. That’s one type. There are more. Each creates a specific kind of tension. This lesson fills in the rest.
s(), note(), stack(), cat(), setcpm(35),
mini-notation (~ * [] <> / @),
.gain(), .pan(),
.lpf(), .lpq(), .attack(), .decay(),
.sustain(), .release(),
.room(), .size(),
.delay(), .delaytime(), .delayfeedback(),
.distort(), chord notation [c3,eb3,g3],
progressions with <>,
chord tones, passing tones, intervals, scale degrees,
and the phonk palette from EDM.4–7.
A neighbor tone steps away from a chord tone and steps back. It doesn’t connect two different notes—it decorates one. Upper neighbor first. C minor chord, melody on the 5th:
G is a chord tone. Ab steps up—not in the chord. G returns. The Ab decorates without going anywhere. Compare that to a passing tone: a passing tone connects two different chord tones. A neighbor tone decorates one chord tone by stepping away and coming back.
Now the lower neighbor. Same chord tone, approached from below:
G → F (lower neighbor) → G. Same note decorated from below. The F pulls down, the return to G releases.
A neighbor tone is a non-chord tone that steps away from a chord tone (up or down) and returns immediately. It decorates a single note rather than connecting two different notes. Upper neighbor = step up then back. Lower neighbor = step down then back.
Double neighbor—surround the chord tone from both sides. Change the melody to "g4 ab4 f4 g4". Up, then down, then home. The chord tone gets bracketed.
A suspension holds a note from the previous chord into the new chord. The held note clashes, then resolves downward. First, a clean chord change with no suspension:
G7 to Cmaj7. Every note resolves at once. Now add a 4-3 suspension—the F from G7 holds into the C chord before dropping to E:
Three stages. Preparation: F is a chord tone in G7—it belongs. Suspension: F hangs over into the C chord, creating a sus4 clash against E. Resolution: F drops to E. The tension and release happen within the chord change. The F is technically a non-chord tone in the C chord, but it got there by staying put, not by moving.
A suspension is a note from the previous chord held into the new chord, creating a dissonance that resolves downward by step. Named by the interval of the clash and its resolution: 4-3 sus (the 4th resolves to the 3rd), 7-6 sus, 9-8 sus. When the resolution goes up instead of down, it’s called a retardation.
Try a 7-6 suspension. Hold B from Cmaj7 into an Am chord: cat(note("[c3,e3,g3,b3]"), note("[a2,e3,b3,c4]"), note("[a2,e3,a3,c4]")). Apply the same .s("sawtooth").lpf(1000).attack(0.1).sustain(0.8).release(0.3).gain(0.3) to each. The B clashes against Am, then resolves down to A.
A pedal point is a sustained or repeated note—usually the bass—that holds while the harmony changes above it. You’ve been doing this without knowing. Every time you played a drone under different chords, that was a pedal point. C pedal, chords moving above:
The bass holds C while the chords change. When the chord is Cm, the bass agrees. When it’s Fm or Ab, the C clashes. When it’s G, the C is a dissonant 4th against the root. The bass is an anchor. The harmony pulls against it.
A pedal point is a sustained or repeated note (usually the root or fifth) held against changing harmony. Creates tension when the harmony moves away and resolution when it returns. Named after organ pedals—organists held bass notes with their feet while playing chords with their hands.
Now a dominant pedal. Hold G under changing chords—this builds tension toward resolution:
The G pedal creates increasing tension as chords move away from G, then maximum alignment when G major arrives. Dominant pedal = building toward resolution. Tonic pedal = holding ground.
Two more types, briefly. An appoggiatura leaps TO a dissonance, then resolves by step. Different from a neighbor tone, which steps to the dissonance. An anticipation arrives at the next chord’s note early, before the chord actually changes. A melody with both, over the phonk progression:
Some of those melody notes are chord tones. Some are passing tones. Some are neighbors. Some are appoggiaturas—the leaps to d4 in bar 1 and f4 in bar 3 land on dissonances that resolve by step. You can identify each one now.
Appoggiatura: a dissonance approached by leap (not step) that resolves by step. Dramatic emphasis—it arrives with force. Anticipation: arriving at the next chord’s note before the chord changes. Eagerness. Each non-chord tone type has a specific recipe: how you arrive + how you leave.
Each type is defined by two things: how you arrive at the dissonance and how you leave it. That’s the whole system.
| type | approach | leave | character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passing tone | step | step (same direction) | smooth connection |
| Neighbor | step | step (opposite direction) | decoration |
| Suspension | held from prev chord | step down | tension-release |
| Retardation | held from prev chord | step up | tension-release (upward) |
| Appoggiatura | leap | step | dramatic emphasis |
| Escape tone | step | leap (opposite direction) | surprising exit |
| Anticipation | any | held into next chord | eagerness |
| Pedal point | sustained | sustained | anchor / tension |
Passing tones and neighbors are the most common. Suspensions and appoggiaturas are the most dramatic. Anticipations are subtle. Escape tones are rare and unpredictable—they step into a dissonance and leap away in the opposite direction, like changing your mind mid-sentence.
Pedal point is the outlier. It’s not a single melodic event but a sustained structural device. Everything else is one note long. A pedal point can last bars.
For any note that sounds dissonant against the current chord, ask two questions. How did it arrive? (Step, leap, or held over?) How does it leave? (Step up, step down, leap, or held?) The answers give you the type. Every dissonance in tonal music fits one of these eight categories.
Phonk track with a melody that uses every non-chord tone type from this lesson. C pedal point in the bass. Passing tones, neighbors, appoggiaturas in the lead. The full vocabulary of tension, deliberate and stacked.
C pedal point in the bass—it holds through all four chords. Bar 1: d4 is a passing tone between c4 and eb4, ab4 is an upper neighbor to g4. Bar 2: the c4 at the end anticipates the Bb chord. Bar 3: f4 leaps in as an appoggiatura, resolves down to eb4. Bar 4: b3 is a chord tone in G, the d4 connects by step. The full vocabulary in action.
[g3 ~ f4 d4 b3 ~ g3 ~] for bar 4—the f4 clashes against G major and resolves down.note("c2")) with a dominant pedal (note("g2")). Hear how the tension changes—the bass pulls toward resolution instead of anchoring.[g4 ab4 g4 ~ g4 f4 g4 ~]. Bar 2: [eb4 f4 eb4 ~ eb4 d4 eb4 ~]. Nothing but decoration.| tool | does | looks like |
|---|---|---|
| neighbor tone (upper) | step up from chord tone, return | g4 ab4 g4 |
| neighbor tone (lower) | step down from chord tone, return | g4 f4 g4 |
| double neighbor | surround chord tone from both sides | g4 ab4 f4 g4 |
| suspension (4-3) | hold note from prev chord, resolve down | [c3,f3,g3,b3] → [c3,e3,g3,b3] |
| suspension (7-6) | hold 7th from prev chord, resolve down | B held into Am → resolves to A |
| suspension (9-8) | hold 9th from prev chord, resolve down | same mechanism, higher interval |
| retardation | like suspension, but resolves up | held note → step up |
| pedal point (tonic) | hold root under changing harmony | note("c2").s("sine") |
| pedal point (dominant) | hold 5th under changing harmony | note("g2").s("sine") |
| appoggiatura | leap to dissonance, resolve by step | leap to f4 → step to eb4 |
| anticipation | arrive at next chord’s note early | c4 before Bb chord |
| escape tone | step to dissonance, leap away | step in, leap out opposite |
Every non-chord tone is defined by two things: how it arrives and how it leaves. Passing tone = step in, step out same direction. Neighbor = step out, step back. Suspension = held, resolve down. Appoggiatura = leap in, step out. Anticipation = early arrival. Pedal = sustained anchor. Know the recipe, identify the tension.
Next: Diatonic Harmony — continue to 9d: Cadences + Form.
Tracks that demonstrate this lesson’s concepts.
| artist | track | why |
|---|---|---|
| Nobuo Uematsu | FF6: Terra’s Theme (1994) | (VGM) masterclass in suspensions and non-chord tones |
| Palestrina | Missa Papae Marcelli: Kyrie (1567) | (classical) suspensions as the primary expressive device |
| Radiohead | Everything in Its Right Place (2000) | (electronic) appoggiaturas and suspensions over a Rhodes loop |
The names for non-chord tones come from 18th-century counterpoint. The sounds themselves have been used since people first sang against a drone.
The suspension — holding a note from one chord into the next, creating a dissonance that resolves — was a core expressive device in Renaissance and Baroque music. Palestrina’s masses (1560s–1590s) use chains of suspensions to create a flowing, ethereal texture. Bach’s chorales (1700s–1740s) systematized suspensions into 4-3, 7-6, and 9-8 types. The suspension is still the most dramatic non-chord tone — it creates and resolves tension in a single gesture.
The sustained bass note (pedal point) gets its name from organ pedals — the large bass keys played with the feet. Organists would hold a bass note while changing chords with their hands. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor opens over a dominant pedal. In modern production, the “drone” serves the same function — EDM buildups over a sustained bass note are pedal points.
Sources: Gauldin, A Practical Approach to 18th-Century Counterpoint (2013); Williams, The Organ Music of J.S. Bach (2003).