ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 discusses the melodic embellishment technique of appoggiaturas, defined as non-chord tones approached by leap resolved by stepwise motion in the opposite direction. The author relates a story about faculty colleague cellist Elizabeth Simkin once expressed how important appoggiaturas are to classical players, which the author had not entirely considered before. The first musical exercises in the chapter include adding appoggiaturas to major, minor, and diminished triads in all 12 keys. The author observes that applying appoggiaturas can be a significant mental challenge because appoggiaturas require that you think ahead to the next melody note. Jazz improvisation exercises later in the chapter include applying appoggiaturas to the “Distilled Saints Melody” and “Mike’s Original Saints Melody” introduced in Chapter 2, as well as the reader’s own melody composed in Chapter 4. The chapter continues with a jazz etude called “Appoggiaturas with Cathy.” The chapter concludes by suggesting advanced studies which apply appoggiaturas to a variety of 7th and 9th chords and learning the chapter’s earlier exercises in all 12 keys.
