An escape tone is a melodic ornamentation where a non-chord tone is approached by step and resolved by leap in the opposite direction.
Imagine you're playing a game of tag. The escape tone is like when you're running away from the person who's "it" and suddenly change direction to throw them off.
Appogiatura: A type of non-chord tone where a dissonant note is approached by a leap and resolved by step into a consonant note.
Suspension: A type of non-chord tone where a consonant note from the previous chord is held over into the next chord as a dissonance before resolving down.
Passing Tone: A type of non-chord tone that fills in the gap between two chord tones, usually approached and resolved by step.
Study guides for the entire semester
200k practice questions
Glossary of 50k key terms - memorize important vocab
© 2024 Fiveable Inc. All rights reserved.
AP® and SAT® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this website.