Definition
Passing tones and neighbor tones are the most common non-chord tones. They arise from melodic motion by step and serve to make lines fluid and singable.
- The passing tone connects two different notes by step, always moving in the same direction (C–D–E over a C chord).
- The neighbor tone (or embellishing tone) moves away by step from a note and returns to the same one (C–D–C, upper neighbor; C–B–C, lower neighbor).
Accented and unaccented
- Unaccented: they fall on the weak beat or the weak part of the beat. They are the normal case, almost imperceptible as dissonances.
- Accented: they fall on the strong beat, when the chord has already changed. They produce an evident dissonance and approach the effect of the appoggiatura.
Variants
| Type | Example over C major | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Simple passing tone | E–F–G | the most common |
| Double passing tone | G–A–B–C | two consecutive passing tones filling a fourth |
| Simultaneous passing tones | two voices in thirds or sixths (E–F–G and C–D–E) | make the motion richer |
| Chromatic passing tone | C–C#–D | chromatic color, suggests tonicizations |
| Upper / lower neighbor | G–A–G / G–F#–G | the lower neighbor is often altered to a half step |
| Double neighbor (neighbor group) | C–D–B–C | the note is surrounded from above and below |
Practical rules
- The passing tone must continue in the same direction: if it turns back it is a neighbor tone.
- The lower neighbor tone sounds best at the distance of a half step (often altered: G–F#–G in C major).
- Passing tones do not cancel parallels: if the real notes form parallel fifths, the error remains; indeed, sometimes passing tones create new parallels between the non-chord tones (to be checked).
- Two voices with simultaneous passing tones must form consonances with each other (thirds or sixths).
- In the bass, passing tones make the line “walk”: they are the basis of the walking bass and of the rule of the octave.
Common mistakes
- Writing a passing tone that leaps instead of moving by step.
- Putting too many accented passing tones: the harmony becomes unclear.
- Creating parallel octaves between a passing tone and the bass.
Examples
- Schumann, Album for the Young, “The Reaper's Song”: in a few bars there are passing tones, neighbor tones, and a pedal.
- Beethoven, “Ode to Joy”: the melody moves almost only by step, full of passing tones over I and V.
- Bach, Inventions: the sixteenth notes are woven with passing and neighbor tones that outline the chords.
- Jazz walking bass: between the roots of two chords, diatonic or chromatic passing tones are inserted.
- Pop melodies: the short “connecting notes” on weak syllables are almost always passing tones.
How to use it in composition
- To make a melody made of only chord tones more fluid, fill the leaps of a third with passing tones.
- Neighbor tones give movement to a long note without changing the harmony (typical in riffs).
- The chromatic passing tone in the bass (C–C#–D) introduces color and anticipates a secondary dominant.
Exercise
- Write a melody of only chord tones over I–IV–V–I and then fill it with passing and neighbor tones, marking them with P and N.
- Add simultaneous passing tones in thirds between soprano and alto in a simple chorale.
- Turn a bass line in quarter notes into a walking bass with chromatic passing tones.
Connections
Non-chord tones; Appoggiatura, escape tone, anticipation, and changing tone; Suspensions; Walking bass; Rule of the octave; Melodic writing and contour.