Simultaneous Decoration
When decorative non-chord notes (e.g. passing notes or auxiliary notes) are used in two or more parts at the same time, it’s best to make sure that the decoration notes …
Suspensions
Suspensions are prepared, dissonant non-chord notes which resolve downwards by step. They fall on a strong beat, but are not normally accented in themselves, because they are usually tied backwards …
Using Decoration Notes
Auxiliary Notes Auxiliary notes are non-chord notes which are approached and quit in the opposite direction by step. They are usually unaccented. They can either be upper or lower auxiliary …
The Neapolitan 6th
One of the most commonly-used chromatic chords in the Classical period (and beyond) is the Neapolitan 6th chord, or “N6”. This is a major chord, built from the flattened supertonic …
Secondary 7ths
The chords ii7 and vii°7 are in a group of chords called secondary 7ths. A secondary 7th is an added 7th chord built on any degree of the scale except …
Chord vii°7 (Diminished 7th)
Chord vii°7 Chord vii°7 is a diminished 7th chord. It is built from the diminished triad on the 7th degree of the scale, plus another third added on top: the …
Direct Modulation
Modulation is the process of changing key. Although most modulations use the progression V-I or V7-I, sometimes music can pass into a new key without any preparation from the new …
Identifying the Home Key
Key ID and Chromatic Notes The key signature at the start of a piece of music represents one major key, and one minor key. To work out whether the piece …
The Whole Tone Scale
The Whole Tone Scale The whole-tone scale is a six-note scale, where each note is a tone (whole step) higher/lower than the next. There are two varieties: Since the interval …
The Modern Era
Modern music is defined by a general abandonment of the rules that were laid down in earlier times. Where Romantic music had irregular phrase lengths, modern music often goes one …