← Music Theory syllabus

United StatesMusic Theory

Unit 6: Harmony and Voice Leading III: Embellishments, Motives, and Melodic Devices

4 dot points across 4 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How does a suspension hold a tone over a chord change and resolve, and how is it numbered?

Topic 6.4 Identifying and Writing Suspensions; Identifying Retardations: recognize and write suspensions by their three stages and number them (4-3, 7-6, 9-8, 2-3 bass), and identify retardations.
A focused answer to AP Music Theory Topic 6.4, covering the suspension and its three stages (preparation, suspension, resolution), the common figures (4-3, 7-6, 9-8, and the 2-3 bass suspension), how the dissonance resolves down by step, and the retardation (resolves up), with a worked suspension.
9 min answer →

How do anticipations, escape tones, appoggiaturas and pedal points decorate the harmony?

Topic 6.3 Identifying Anticipations, Escape Tones, Appoggiaturas, and Pedal Points: recognize these embellishing tones by how they are approached and left.
A focused answer to AP Music Theory Topic 6.3, covering the anticipation (arrives early), the escape tone (step away then leap back), the appoggiatura (leap to an accented dissonance then step down), and the pedal point (sustained tone under changing harmony), each identified by its approach and departure, with a worked identification.
9 min answer →

How do we recognize passing tones and neighbor tones as decorations of the harmony?

Topic 6.1 Identifying Passing Tones and Neighbor Tones: locate passing and neighbor tones in a melody and distinguish them from chord tones.
A focused answer to AP Music Theory Topic 6.1, covering non-chord tones, the passing tone (stepwise between two different chord tones) and the neighbor tone (stepwise away from and back to one chord tone), accented versus unaccented placement, and telling them from chord tones, with a worked identification.
9 min answer →

How do we add passing and neighbor tones to decorate a chord progression without breaking voice-leading rules?

Topic 6.2 Writing Passing Tones and Neighbor Tones: add passing and neighbor tones to a part-writing texture correctly and without creating parallels.
A focused answer to AP Music Theory Topic 6.2, covering how to add passing and neighbor tones to a four-voice texture, choosing where a third can be filled with a passing tone, decorating a static voice with a neighbor, and avoiding parallels caused by the embellishment, with a worked addition.
9 min answer →