In jazz theory, an avoid note is a

scale Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number ...

degree which is considered especially dissonant relative to the

harmony In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However ...

implied by the root chord, and is thus better avoided. In

major-key In music theory, the key of a piece is the group of pitches, or scale, that forms the basis of a musical composition in classical, Western art, and Western pop music. The group features a '' tonic note'' and its corresponding '' chords'', a ...

tonality the avoid note is the fourth diatonic scale step, or 11th, which is a minor ninth above the 3rd of the chord, and thus very harsh. In

melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

it is usually avoided, treated as a "scale approach note" or

passing note A nonchord tone (NCT), nonharmonic tone, or embellishing tone is a note in a piece of music or song that is not part of the implied or expressed chord set out by the harmonic framework. In contrast, a chord tone is a note that is a part of the ...

, or sharpened. It is not available in harmony. The available tensions for a

dominant seventh chord In music theory, a dominant seventh chord, or major minor seventh chord, is a seventh chord, usually built on the fifth degree of the major scale, and composed of a root, major third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh. Thus it is a major triad tog ...

are 9, 11, and 13. In

minor Minor may refer to: * Minor (law), a person under the age of certain legal activities. ** A person who has not reached the age of majority * Academic minor, a secondary field of study in undergraduate education Music theory *Minor chord ** Barb ...

harmony the sixth scale step is usually avoided, and the 13th is not regarded as an available tension. In modal terms, the available scale steps of the mode (or available tensions for the chords) of the diatonic scale steps are those a whole step above the chord tones, and the avoid notes are those that are not. The only exception is the Dorian mode of the second scale degree, where the sixth is avoided although it is a whole step above the fifth; this is because the tritone between this and the third scale step would give an unwanted dominant quality. Taking C major as an example, the avoid notes are: In his modal approach to minor harmony Haerle does not use the term ''avoid note'', but discusses "intolerably dissonant" notes and how they should be resolved. For the melodic minor scale he gives these:

References

{{Jazz theory Consonance and dissonance Jazz techniques Jazz terminology

See also

References