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Leading Tone – Definition
A leading tone is a note that lies one semitone below a target note and creates a strong tendency to resolve upward to that note. In tonal music, the leading tone most commonly resolves to the tonic.
What is a Leading Tone?
In major and harmonic minor scales, the leading tone is the seventh scale degree, positioned one semitone below the tonic. This close relationship creates a strong sense of tension and resolution that is fundamental to tonal harmony.
Leading tones play an important role in melodies, chord progressions, and cadences, especially in dominant seventh chords, where they contribute to the feeling of harmonic resolution.
How is a Leading Tone used in piano playing?
Pianists use leading tones to create smooth melodic lines, effective voice leading, and convincing harmonic movement. They frequently appear in scales, arpeggios, chord progressions, and bass lines.
Understanding leading tones helps pianists recognize how tension and resolution shape melodies and harmony in classical, jazz, pop, and many other musical styles.