Nonchord Tones
(click to play
Beata es Virgo Maria by Giovanni Gabrieli,
performed by The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble)
In some of my animated graphical scores,
I use visual layers to show the relationship between
notes that are members of chords forming a harmonic progression
and
nonchordal notes.
This page shows what that looks like.
(note: an animated version of the following five images can be viewed here)
Harmonic base. These ellipses represent the notes of a simple chord progression ...
... and these lighter lines show the melodic motion of the notes within that progression ...
Passing tones are melodic nonchord tones that fill the interval between chord tones ...
Aniticipatory tones are like passing tones but arrive at the destination before the chord changes ...
Suspensions are similar to anticipatory tones, but they move after the chord changes
(and always downward, which is why they're called "suspensions") ...
Other ornaments. Sometimes, I use a third layer to show trills and other faster notes
that further elaborate either the harmonic base or the nonchord tones, like this ...
(A fuller discussion of nonchord tones can be found on
this Wikipedia page).
What do the colors mean?
When harmony/tonality plays an important role it a piece of music,
I use a system I call Harmonic Coloring to show the harmonic/tonal
function of the notes (described here).
Examples
To see how this plays out, let's look at
a piece
by
Giovanni Gabrieli.
Here's how colors are assigned to pitches (arranged into groups by
triad):
Things to notice ...
The root/fifth (bottom/top) of each triad are very similar in color,
while the third (middle) is different (because the root/fifth are adjacent
on the circle of fifths).
For triads that can be either major or minor (G, D, A, E), the major third
is redder, and the minor third is greener.
Notes that function as "leading tones" (E, B, F#, C#, G#) are violet/reddish
compared to the notes they resolve to (F, C, G, D, A), which are green/bluish.
Here's what this looks like in
Giovanni Gabrieli's motet Beata es Virgo Maria
(as performed by The English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble):
(click to play)
Here's a complete list of examples to date:
- Gabrieli, Canzon IV a 4
- Gabrieli, Canzon II a 4
- Gabrieli, Gabrieli, Beata es Virgo Maria (alternate version)
- Gabrieli, Sonata Pian e Forte (Ch. 184)
- Victoria, Alma Redemptoris Mater
- Haydn, String Quartet in F minor, opus 20 no. 5, 3. Adagio
- Rameau, es Sauvages (early version showing fewer harmony notes)
- Scarlatti, Sonata in B-flat major, K 248 (this one uses the technique a little more freely)
- Coperario, Fantasia a6 'al folgorante sguardo' (this one is a different form of the display)
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