Passing tone
A note that is not part of the underlying chord, used to connect one chord tone to another smoothly.
Passing tones are the connective tissue of melody: they fill the gaps between the notes a chord actually contains, usually on a weak beat, and they can move by step or by chromatic approximation. A well-placed passing tone makes a line sound written rather than arpeggiated, while too many of them blur the harmony. Half-step approaches into a chord tone are the most common form in jazz and are one of the quickest ways to make a plain solo sound considered.
Example: A line that walks from the third of a chord up through the fourth to reach the fifth is using the fourth as a passing tone.
See also
Related
- PageChord tone
- PageChromatic
- PagePhrasing
- PageAugmented chord
- PageBlue note
- PageBlues scale
- PageAaron Dessner
- PageAce Frehley