ABSTRACT
This chapter describes nonharmonic tones in terms of melodic formulas based on steps and leaps. These intervallic equations may aid memorization, but ignoring the functional attributes of nonharmonic tones can hinder rather than heighten musical insight. Passing tones play an indispensable role in the creation of melodic fluency on all levels of musical structure. When a composer writes a disjointed melody, underlying melodic fluency usually conveys a coherent sense of direction. Escape tones are incomplete neighbors that occur after the stable tone to which they are attached by step. One could analyze the nonharmonic tones at the end of m. 1 as neighbors; they are preceded by stable chord tones and followed by tones of the cadential 64. Most nonharmonic tones are situated in weak metric locations, thus promoting the idea that instability is subordinate to stability in tonal music. One outstanding characteristic of the suspension is its metric accentuation.
