passing note

noun Music.

a note that is foreign to a harmony and is introduced between two successive chord tones in order to produce a melodic transition.

Origin of passing note

First recorded in 1720–30

Also called passing tone.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for passing note

passing note

US passing tone

noun

music a nonharmonic note through which a melody passes from one harmonic note to the nextCompare auxiliary note

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012