There are two kinds of embellishing tones, the ones from inside the key and the ones from outside. The outside ones are called chromatic embellishments, and that name is appropriate; you get the most color from careful application of the “wrong” notes.
I give examples of chromatic embellishments here. But I didn’t systematically work through all the possibilities. So I wrote a tune that uses all the possible chromatic neighbor and passing tones in C major. Enjoy:
You will notice that not all of the neighbor tones are color-coded. That’s because sometimes when you go a half step above or below a diatonic scale tone, you get another diatonic scale tone.
- The “chromatic lower neighbor” of the tonic is scale degree seven.
- The “chromatic lower neighbor” of scale degree four is scale degree three.
- The “chromatic upper neighbor” of scale degree three is scale degree four.
- The “chromatic upper neighbor” of scale degree seven is the tonic.
I learned all of my theory without solfége. I have always thought in terms of scale degree numbers with sharps and flats, and that’s what I sing to myself when I’m trying to understand a melody. However, I recognize that solfége has a big advantage: every chromatic pitch gets assigned a single syllable. It’s easier to sing “te” than “flat seven”. Most of my students prefer to think of scale degrees, but some of them like solfége, so I made them a version too.
Chromatic Embellishments – Solfége Version
I originally harmonized the whole thing with simple triads. But then as I was listening, I noticed that the chromatic upper neighbors sound bluesy to me, thanks to a lifetime of hearing flat three, flat five and flat seven in a blues context. So I put seventh chords under those. It’s part of my larger project to center blues harmony in my teaching life.
I have been having my aural skills students sight-sing my explainer songs in class and the reaction has been pretty positive. Not to sight-singing, hardly anyone likes that, but they do like explainer songs. I have some larger ambitions for these things too. In the meantime, they are fun to write.