Embellishing tones are non-chord tones that are still within the key or mode. Chromatic embellishments are notes from outside the key or mode. They are easy to spot because they sound characteristically “weird”, or, at least, more colorful than the other notes around them. Thus the “chromatic” part – the word comes from chroma, the Greek word for color.
Here are some examples from different genres and eras.
The Beatles – “Your Mother Should Know”
Listen to the vocal melody at 0:22. The underlying chord is C. The vocals slide up to the third E from the flat third E-flat, and to the fifth G from the flat fifth G-flat. This move was presumably inspired by the blues.
The Beatles – “Twist and Shout”
Listen to the vocal melody at 0:15. The underlying chord is D. John sings the word “shout” on the flat third F before sliding it up to the major third F-sharp. This move was definitely inspired by the blues.
The Beatles – “I Am The Walrus”
Listen to the vocal melody at 0:20. The underlying chord is A. John alternates the fifth E with the flat fifth E-flat.
The Beatles – “Hey Jude”
Listen to the vocal melody at 3:07. The underlying chord is F. Paul sings the word “better” on an ascending F major triad: F, A, C, F, A, C, F. He precedes each note with the note a half-step below. Before the root F, he sings the seventh E; before the third A, he sings the flat third A-flat; and before the fifth C he sings the flat fifth B.
Sinéad O’Connor – “Nothing Compares 2 U”
Listen to the vocal melody at 1:19. The song is in F, and the underlying chord is Bb, but the melody is anticipating the C chord that immediately follows. On the word “to”, Sinéad sings A-flat, the flat sixth of the chord and the flat third of the overall key. Then she resolves down to G, the fifth of the chord and the second of the overall key. This is another move that is pretty clearly inspired by the blues.
Talking Heads – “This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)“
Listen to the synth lead at 0:46. The underlying key is G major, which is more salient than the individual chords going by underneath. The synth lead begins on the fifth D before bending down to the flat fifth G-flat and back up. At 0:48, it bends from the tonic G to the seventh F-sharp and back up. That isn’t a chromatic embellishment, just a regular lower neighbor. At 0:57, the synth bends from the second A to the flat second A-flat and back up. That is a very strange chromatic embellishment!
Talking Heads – “Making Flippy Floppy“
Listen to the bassline at 0:03. The tune is in G. Tina Weymouth alternates G in octaves and then plays A-flat, the flat second. She repeats this note throughout the verses. It’s an odd choice, because the feel isn’t Phrygian and no one else is playing flat two.
Grateful Dead – “Black Peter“
Listen to the guitar part at the beginning. The tune is in A. Bob Weir slides from the flat third C up to the major third C-sharp. Then he plays the fourth D to the flat third C to the major third C-sharp. This is a standard blues riff. Phil Lesh’s bassline bends the second B up to the flat third C and back, another standard blues riff.
Duke Ellington – “Mood Indigo”
Listen to the main melody at 0:10. The tune is in Bb. The melody begins with the major third D. Then it dips down to the minor third D-flat before returning to the major third. The second phrase of the melody begins with the fifth F, then moves to the minor third D-flat, and once again resolves to the major third D.
By the way, listen at 9:46 for Tyree Glenn’s wild ya-ya trombone. He sounds like an angry muppet.
Herbie Hancock – “Watermelon Man“
Listen to the bassline at 0:46. The tune is in F. Paul Jackson begins on F, and then does a chromatic walkup. The bottom notes are the flat seventh E-flat, the seventh E, and the tonic F. The top notes are the second G, the flat third A-flat, and the third A. On the second time through the figure, Jackson precedes F with E. In a blues context, this acts like a chromatic lower neighbor.
These examples are all chromatic decorations of the main melody. They don’t affect the underlying harmony. That’s a conversation for a different week of class, the one where we talk about secondary dominants and tritone substitutions.