A

David

Darling

non-harmonic notes

Non-harmonic notes, also called non-chord notes, are notes that are not part of the chord structure around them. They may be diatonic or chromatic and usually serves either to embellish or to "smooth out" melodic motion between or around chord tones. Melodic lines rarely remain exclusively within the confines of the given harmony. Without these additional non-harmonic notes, musical lines would be able to only outline the triad or proceed in a homophonic texture.