Passing tones are often found above and below the melody, connecting two
notes from the basic melody line together.You can use passing tones to make a boring chord interesting, to point to the
melody, and/or to just add to the flavor of the song as you make your music
flow.Now, if we color in the spaces between the notes with passing tones, we
could end up with something like this Figure 8-5.Can you tell in Figure 8-5 that the structural notes are still there?Passing tones are always used on the weak beats of a measure, and the struc-
tural tones are used on the strong beats. Paying attention to whether a note
falls on the strong or the weak beats is important, because this deeply affects
the music.Neighboring Tones and Appoggiatura.........................................................
Neighboring tonesare notes that are visited briefly (like your neighbors)
before returning home. That is, you start with your structural tone, move up
or down a step or half step, and then return to your original note. It’s a cool
little embellishment that’s used a lot in kids’ piano books, simply because it
sounds much more complicated to play than it actually is. If you rapidly
repeat neighboring tones, as in Figure 8-6, it makes for a neat little trill.&4
(^4) œ
œ# œœœœœœ
3
œœœ
3
œ œ# œ
3
œœ
œ œ# œ
3
œœœ œ# œ
œœ
œœ ̇Œ ∑
Figure 8-6:
Adding
neighboring
tones to our
melody.
Note the trill
in the first
measure.
&4
(^4) Ó œ œ ̇
œ œ ̇
œ œ ̇ œ œ w∑
Figure 8-5:
Adding
passing
tones to our
melody.
82 Part II: Melody and Development