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.
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What this topic is asking
The College Board (Topic 6.4) wants you to recognize and write suspensions by their three stages (preparation, suspension, resolution), number them by the intervals above the bass (4-3, 7-6, 9-8 and the 2-3 bass suspension), resolve the dissonance down by step, and identify the retardation (which resolves up).
The three stages of a suspension
The held-over note is the heart of the suspension: it belongs to the old chord but lingers into the new one, creating a momentary dissonance that the ear wants resolved by a downward step.
Numbering suspensions
These figures are simply the size of the suspended interval and the interval it falls to. Knowing the common ones lets you spot and write suspensions quickly.
Retardation
A retardation has the same three-stage shape as a suspension, but the held tone resolves up by step instead of down. It is most common at cadences, where a delayed leading tone resolves upward to the tonic. The mechanism is identical; only the direction of resolution differs.
Why suspensions add expressive tension
The central idea is that a suspension creates controlled dissonance by making one voice late, which is one of the most expressive devices in tonal writing. The preparation makes the dissonance sound smooth, because the clashing note was just a consonant chord tone; the suspension stage places that note as a dissonance on a strong beat, drawing the ear's attention; and the resolution releases it by a satisfying downward step. Because the dissonance is prepared and resolved by step, it never sounds harsh, only poignant. The numbering system lets you communicate exactly which suspension is used, and recognizing suspensions in analysis prevents you from misreading the strong-beat dissonance as a chord change. In composition, adding a 4-3 or 7-6 suspension at a cadence is a reliable way to heighten the arrival. The cadential six-four you met earlier is essentially a pair of suspensions over the dominant, which is why it behaves the same way.
Writing a suspension
To write a suspension, prepare the tone as a consonant chord tone on a weak beat, hold it over the chord change so it becomes a dissonance on the strong beat, then resolve it down by step to a chord tone, and label it by the intervals above the bass.
Try this
Q1. In what direction does the dissonance of a suspension resolve? [1 point]
- Cue. Down by step, to a chord tone; a retardation is the same shape but resolves up.
Q2. What do the two numbers in a 4-3 suspension represent? [2 points]
- Cue. The intervals above the bass: 4 is the dissonant suspended interval (a fourth above the bass) and 3 is the consonant resolution (a third above the bass).
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of College Board exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AP 2022 (style)1 marksSection I (multiple choice, written). A suspension labelled 4-3 means which of the following? (A) the bass moves from a fourth to a third (B) a tone a fourth above the bass resolves down to a third above the bass (C) the chord changes from IV to iii (D) the soprano leaps a fourth then a thirdShow worked answer →
The correct answer is (B) a tone a fourth above the bass resolves down to a third above the bass.
Suspension figures count intervals above the bass. A 4-3 suspension holds a tone a fourth above the bass (the dissonance) and resolves it down by step to a third above the bass (the consonance), which is the chord tone.
(A) describes bass motion, not the suspension figure. (C) names chords, not the interval pattern. (D) describes melodic leaps, not a suspension. The trap is reading 4-3 as chord names or bass motion; the numbers are the dissonant and resolving intervals above the bass.
AP 2023 (style)3 marksSection II (free response, part-writing). In C major, write a 4-3 suspension over a G bass (the dominant), naming the three stages, and explain how a retardation would differ.Show worked answer →
A 3-point part-writing question.
(1 point) Preparation: on the previous chord, the suspended voice sounds C as a consonant chord tone (for example the root of a C major tonic).
(1 point) Suspension and resolution: over the new bass G, the held C is now a fourth above the bass and is dissonant (the suspension); it then resolves down by step to B, a third above the bass and a chord tone of V (the leading tone), completing the 4-3.
(1 point) A retardation has the same prepare-hold shape but resolves upward by step instead of down (for example a held tone rising to the next chord tone), often used at cadences where the leading tone is delayed and then rises to the tonic.
Markers reward naming the three stages (preparation, suspension, resolution), the downward step resolution of the 4-3, and explaining that a retardation resolves up rather than down.
Related dot points
- 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.
- 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.
- Topic 5.6 Cadential 6/4 Chords: use the cadential six-four (I6/4 to V) and part-write its suspension-like resolution of the sixth and fourth above the bass.
A focused answer to AP Music Theory Topic 5.6, covering the cadential six-four chord (I6/4 over the dominant bass), why it behaves like a decorated dominant, the resolution of the sixth to the fifth and the fourth to the third above the bass, doubling the bass, and metrical placement, with a worked resolution.
- 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.
- Topic 4.2 SATB Voice Leading: apply the rules of range, spacing, doubling, smooth motion and tendency-tone resolution when writing four-part harmony.
A focused answer to AP Music Theory Topic 4.2, covering the four-voice ranges, the spacing rule (no more than an octave between adjacent upper voices), doubling guidelines, the ban on parallels and voice crossing, and resolving the leading tone and tendency tones, with a worked voicing.
Sources & how we know this
- AP Music Theory Course and Exam Description — College Board (2024)