A four-part chorale without embellishing tones is a rhythmically simple harmonic progression without any dissonance—in other words, boring! Embellishing tones add two things: expressive dissonance and rhythmic motion.
Dissonance has a bad reputation. We tend to think it sounds like an unpleasant clash when heard in isolation. However, within the context of tonal harmonic progressions, dissonance adds a longing for resolution and harmonic variety—it’s like seasoning for food. We want depth of flavor and interesting textures in our food just like we want rich harmonies and varied rhythmic textures in our music. Embellishing tones are an integral part of the recipe.
The most important factor in choosing where to place an embellishing tone is how it will sound. Just because an embellishing tone can be placed somewhere doesn’t mean you should, especially if it doesn’t sound particularly good.
Regardless of rigorous training and a thorough knowledge of all the rules, a good composer will base their embellishing tone choices on how the end result will sound. Consider if there are any dull spots that could be sharpened by adding motion to a particular voice, or use them to enhance the expressive nature of a particular musical moment, such as a cadence.
Embellishing tones are dissonant. This means that they do not fit in the current harmony and must resolve directly to a pitch that is in the harmony (i.e., a consonance).
If an embellishing tone in the soprano moves to a dissonant note, that dissonant note must resolve to a consonant note in the same voice. Remember to check stem directions to ensure the resolution remains in the same part.
The passing tone is a dissonant note that moves by step, filling the gap of a third between two consonant notes.
Unaccented (UPT) means the dissonance happens between beats (on weak beats or offbeats). Accented (APT) means the dissonance happens on a beat (on strong beats).
Unaccented passing tones are the most common type of embellishing tone in tonal music. They can be diatonic or chromatic.
Approached by step
Resolved by step in the same direction
Neighbor tones move up (UN) or down (LN) by step from a consonance to a dissonance, and then resolve by step back to the original consonance.
Unaccented neighbor tones are the most common type and happen between beats, while accented neighbor tones happen directly on the beat. They can be diatonic or chromatic.
Approached by step
Resolved by step in the opposite direction
All appoggiaturas (APP) are accented (i.e., on the beat). They are approached by leap and resolved by step. The step is usually in the opposite direction of the leap.
Appoggiaturas never occur between chords. Think of them as accented upper neighbors that are leapt into as opposed to stepped into. They commonly jump up but rarely jump down into the accented note.
The double neighbor (DN) is a melodic figure that features an upper and lower neighbor surrounded by chord tones. The double neighbor can start with either the upper or lower neighbor.
The incomplete neighbor (IN) is a leap to a dissonance that resolves to a chord tone like a regular neighbor tone would. This is very similar to an appoggiatura except that an incomplete neighbor is unaccented.
These two types of embellishing tones are used less frequently than any of the other types of embellishing tones. You'll encounter these occasionally in analysis but they are to be used sparingly in your chorales.
Escape tones (ET) are always unaccented. They leave by step into a dissonance and resolve by leap into a consonance. The leap to consonance is usually in the opposite direction of the step into dissonance.
The suspension (SUS) is always accented and comprised of three components:
As the name implies, the anticipation (ANT) anticipates a consonant note in the next harmony. Anticipations are unaccented and can go up or down by step.
The retardation (RET) is a repeated note that was consonant but becomes dissonant in the new harmony. Retardations always resolve up by step. Essentially, they are the opposite of suspensions.
A pedal point (PP) is a note (or notes) held through harmonic changes, some of which are dissonant with the pedal point. The PP must be consonant with the beginning and ending of the passage.
Embellishing tones add a great deal of rhythmic fluidity and expressive variety to a harmonic progression. The second chorale sounds good because the placement of each embellishing tone has been carefully considered for maximum effect.
Embellishing tones should never be treated as an afterthought. Though it is best to place them after the chorale has been constructed, while composing, consider how embellishing tones can add musical interest to the underlying harmonic structure.
Hearing what embellishing tones sound like is the only way to determine if their musical contribution is aesthetically pleasing. Play, sing, or have a computer realize the music so that you can hear what you’re doing.