Posted by admin on December 13, 2009
A nonharmonic tone is one that is not included within a chord. I am confused as to how you look at a piece of music and figure out the nonharmonic tone so that you are able to write your chords. Thanks!
Are you familiar with RNA? (Roman Numeral Analysis) If so, it will greatly help. But even if you aren’t, the best way to start is by first trying to identify your chords, then going after the nonharmonic tones as you come across them. Most nonharmonic tones are unaccented, not on the downbeat. This isn’t always the case, but more oft then not is. Go through your piece and identify all the chords you can, and any tones that do not quite fit into the chord, or come immediately before or after, are most likely your nonharmonic tones (be sure to watch out for seventh chords!)
Here are a couple of sites to help out:
For an overview of nonharmonic tones…
http://www.8notes.com/school/theory/nonharmonic_tones.asp
For RNA help…
http://www.8notes.com/school/theory/roman_numeral_analysis.asp
http://personal.centenary.edu/~drust/MUS112/Roman.pdf
Hope this helps!
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