Grade 7 Music Theory Q2. Lesson 5: Adding Changing Notes to a Harmonic Outline
Where to Add Changing Notes
Changing notes can be added between two chord notes which are any interval apart (except the unison, because between a unison we find the auxiliary note).
Changing note can be added to the alto, tenor or bass parts, but only rarely to the soprano. They create a dissonance with the rest of the chord.
A changing note pattern consists of a leap and a step in the opposition direction. (“Step” means an interval of a 2nd, and “leap” means any interval bigger than a 2nd).
Here are some ascending melodic intervals from a second to a fifth. (It’s rare to find larger melodic intervals in a chorale).
We can add a changing note which moves by step down from the first note, then moves by a leap up to the second note.
Or, we could add a changing note which moves by a leap up, then a step down.
In the same way, let’s look at some descending melodic intervals, and the ways in which changing notes can be added to them.
As with other forms of decoration, check for augmented/diminished intervals and consecutive 5ths and octaves.
