Notes that are added between the principal notes of a melody are called passing notes: accented passing notes if they are on the beat and unaccented passing notes if they’re off the beat.
The following piece is by Shubert – Marche Militarie – with the accented passing notes marked with a cross (+) and the unaccented ones marked with a dash (‘).
Fig. 1
These are the notes that Schubert might have composed without passing notes.
Consider another example, this time by Rössler-Rosetti. Here is the opening of his Sonata for Harp. The melody comprises accented and unaccented passing notes.
Fig. 2
Had the composer chosen not to include passing notes, would the melody be more or less effective in your opinion?
Figure 3 is a hypothetical example of how the melody could have sounded if it only had harmonic notes.
Fig. 3
In fact, it sounds more like the bass notes of the harmony, that is the tonic (E♭) and the dominant (B♭), and is therefore less melodic and mellifluous.
Another example of a non-harmonic note is the note of anticipation. It often happens at the end of a phrase and in preparation of the final note of the melody. Here is the cantabile section from Telemann’s Fantasia in G minor. Notice the note of anticipation of the tonic against the chord of the dominant.
Fig. 4
In the song Who Is Sylvia, the composer intensifies the rhythmical accent on the word “Syl-via” with an appogiatura (which comes from the Italian, to lean). The note A in bar 2 leans on the chord of the dominant (V = E) before resolving the middle note of that chord (G#).
Fig. 5
The upper line shows the line that Mozart composed, while the second line alludes to what the composer could have created without the échappé notes. The movement is in C major but the example belongs to the bridge which leads to the second subject in the new tonic of G major.
Notice also that the rhythm and inclination of the melody rhyme – show the same features – between bars 2 and 4 in the example. Unity within melodies is a feature which you have studied in previous units, i.e. that an effective line in music develops by means of rhythm and melodic inclination/shape.
Notice how the accidentals D# and G# adorn the melody while the F# reinforces the new key.
Fig. 6
Here is a hypothetical example of the line which Mozart could have written without the échappé notes.
If we consider the structure of the new melody, the above line is a foretaste of the second subject which is seen in the quotation below:
Fig. 7
A suspension is another feature in a melody. Suspension means that the rhythm of notes are stretched to clash with a chord. It is affected in 3 steps:
Look at the following adaptation from Handel’s Largo.
Fig. 8
Handel
harmony note
dissonance
resolution
Chord V second inversion [the root note is D]
dissonant note
The figure below shows the suspension more clearly.
The intervals in a suspension are counted from the root of the chord; therefore, the name given to this suspension is 4 – 3 because the suspension drops from the 4th note (G) to the 3rd (F#) to form a D major chord. The first suspension (bar 2) in Handel’s piece happens over the note A in the bass but remember that it’s a D chord so the suspension is described as 4 – 3.
Creating suspensions on other notes in chords:
The 4-3 suspension is the most common but look at the examples below where there are others. In the hymn-tune Deganwy there is a 9 – 8 suspension.
Fig. 10
In the hymn-tune Rhondda there are two suspensions happening at the same time (a double suspension) with the soprano singing 4 – 3 (D♭ against A♭ in the bass) and the alto singing 9 – 8 (B♭ against A♭ in the bass).
Looking back at the harmonic notes discussed in COMPONENT 3, notice that it’s a harmonic interval of the 3rd happening in the upper voices; a consonant interval.
Formulate feminine cadences on the piano, guitar or harp.