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September 20, 2021 By Aron Bernstein 20 Comments

Weekly Music Theory Challenge 9/20/21

Show off your theory chops with my weekly challenge! Youโ€™ll find a new question here every Monday. Please comment to post your reply.

This weekโ€™s challenge:

This is from Mozart’s Minuet in C Major, K. 6. What type of non-harmonic tone is the circled note?

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Reply to post your answer, and check back on Friday, September 24 to see if you’re right!

ANSWER for 9/20/21

This is called a retardation, a delayed resolution of a tone that results in temporary dissonance. The circled note is the leading tone in the key of G major, F-sharp. But rather than resolving up to G when it should, at the beginning of the final measure, its resolution is delayed until the last beat. This is the opposite of an anticipation, which is an early resolution of a tendency tone.

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Filed Under: music theory challenge Tagged With: breakingbarlines, classicalmusic, harmony, mozart, music, musiceducation, musiclessons, musictheory, musicvideo, nonchordtones, nonharmonictones, popmusic

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Comments

  1. Steve Cohen says

    September 20, 2021 at 8:07 am

    Itโ€™s an appogitura.

    Reply
    • Aron Bernstein says

      September 21, 2021 at 8:00 am

      Over the years, the term appoggiatura has been expanded to include a lot of non-harmonic tones. But, more strictly speaking, appoggiaturas are usually approached by leap and then resolved by step. This one is a delayed resolution of a tendency tone ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  2. Patrick says

    September 20, 2021 at 11:03 am

    I’d say it’s a retardation.

    Reply
    • Aron Bernstein says

      September 21, 2021 at 8:00 am

      ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  3. Gary says

    September 20, 2021 at 3:18 pm

    It has the unfortunate name of โ€œretardation.โ€

    Reply
    • Aron Bernstein says

      September 21, 2021 at 8:00 am

      ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  4. Thomas Proctor says

    September 20, 2021 at 6:02 pm

    Suspension

    Reply
    • Aron Bernstein says

      September 21, 2021 at 8:01 am

      Hi Thomas, in a way, it’s like a suspension, but it resolves upward. It’s really a delayed resolution of the leading tone, so it goes by another name ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  5. Brian says

    September 20, 2021 at 7:28 pm

    Itโ€™s a ritardiation. Approach is the F# followed by the dissonance with the resolution up. Think a backwards suspension.

    Reply
    • Aron Bernstein says

      September 21, 2021 at 8:02 am

      ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  6. Keith says

    September 21, 2021 at 3:35 am

    Secondary dominant leading tone.

    Reply
    • Aron Bernstein says

      September 21, 2021 at 8:03 am

      Hi Keith, it absolutely is the leading tone of the V key, but it doesn’t resolve on the downbeat as it should. It’s a delayed resolution, so there’s another name I’m thinking of ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  7. Herbie James says

    September 21, 2021 at 6:40 am

    Leading tone.

    Reply
    • Aron Bernstein says

      September 21, 2021 at 7:58 am

      Hey Herbie! It is the leading tone, but it hasn’t resolved to the new harmony on the downbeat. Its resolution is delayed until the last beat, and there’s another name for that ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  8. Tom Hamill says

    September 21, 2021 at 7:04 am

    Anticipation

    Reply
    • Aron Bernstein says

      September 21, 2021 at 7:56 am

      Hi Tom! It’s actually the opposite of an anticipation, the delayed resolution of a tone ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  9. Dean Day says

    September 22, 2021 at 12:24 pm

    Leading tone

    Reply
    • Aron Bernstein says

      September 23, 2021 at 10:38 am

      Hi Dean! Technically you’re right…it IS the leading tone in G major. But it doesn’t resolve up to G until the end of the last measure. So it’s a delayed resolution of a tone, making it dissonant. What kind of non-harmonic tone would that be? ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  10. Andrew Koenig says

    October 1, 2021 at 7:50 pm

    If P. D. Q. Bach instead of Mozart were writing this, he’d omit that last G in the right hand entirely and just leave that F# hanging there. This omission would cause innumerable concertgoers to play the missing G on whatever instrument was available when they got home so that they’d be able to sleep.

    Reply
    • Aron Bernstein says

      October 11, 2021 at 9:54 am

      A nice tuning fork to turn in our sides!

      Reply

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