Topmusicanswers
- What is the leading tone in music?
- Why is the leading note so called?
- What is frustrating the leading tone?
- What is lead tone?
What is the leading tone in music?
If the seventh note is a half step below the tonic, it is called a leading note (or “leading tone”). Play the C Major Scale, notice how the seventh note wants to lead into the tonic. Leading tones also occur in harmonic minor and melodic minor. In natural minor, the seventh note is a whole step below the tonic.
Why is the leading note so called?
We call the seventh scale degree of any major scale the leading tone. It's a very descriptive name because the sound of it basically leads us to crave and expect a resolution up to the tonic. When a V chord returns to I, it provides a sense of resolution that completely satisfies our expectations.
What is frustrating the leading tone?
Frustrated Leading Tone
If the leading tone in a V or viio chord lies in one of the outer voices (soprano or bass, where it would be most noticable) and the chord resolves to I without connecting ^7 to ^1 as expected, this is called a “frustrated” leading tone.
What is lead tone?
In music theory, a leading-tone (also subsemitone, and called the leading-note in the UK) is a note or pitch which resolves or "leads" to a note one semitone higher or lower, being a lower and upper leading-tone, respectively. Typically, the leading tone refers to the seventh scale degree of a major scale (
