Preliminary Tones

It is a singularly effective and pregnant quality

of the element of musical rhythm, that its operations are not bounded

by the vertical bars which mark off the measures. That is to say, a

rhythmic figure (and, in consequence, a melodic figure or motive) does

not necessarily extend from bar to bar, but may run from the middle (or

any other point) of one measure, to the middle (or corresponding point)

of the next; preci ely as prosodic rhythm comprises poetic feet which

begin either with an accented or with an unaccented syllable. See Ex.

10. Hence the significant rule, that a melodic member may begin at

any part of a measure, upon an accented or an unaccented beat, or upon

any fraction of a beat. For example:--



In No. 1, the motive begins squarely with the measure, upon the

accented beat. In No. 2, the same motive is enlarged by two tones at

the outset, which locates its beginning upon the fourth 8th--the second

half of the second beat. In No. 3 the motive begins upon an accented

beat, but it is the lighter (secondary) accent of the 3d beat. The

various conditions of unaccented beginnings in Nos. 4, 5 and 6 are

easily recognizable. In No. 7 quite a large fraction of a measure

precedes the first accent (at the beginning of the full measure).

Examine, also, all the preceding examples, and note the different

accented or unaccented locations of the first tone, in each figure and

motive.



When a figure or motive starts at the accented beat, it begins, so to

speak, in the right place; any tone or tones which precede the accent

are merely preliminary or introductory tones. While they are very

desirable and necessary, in the fulfilment of certain purposes, they

are not an essential part of the motive; they appear to represent the

ornamental rather than the stable element of the melodic sentence, and

their employment is therefore a matter of option and taste rather than

of absolute necessity. The accent indicates the point where the body

of the motive begins; the accent is the point where the stake is

driven; all that goes before is simply preparatory,--the changeable

material which flutters about the fixed center. Therefore the

preliminary tones do not indicate the essential or actual beginning

of the motive, but its apparent or conditional beginning only; or what

might be called its melodic beginning. For this reason, also, the

actual first measure of a motive or phrase or sentence of any kind is

always the first FULL measure,--the measure which contains the first

primary accent; that is to say, the preliminary tone or tones do not

count as first measure. For this reason, further, it is evident that

preliminary tones are invariably to be regarded as borrowed from the

final measure of the preceding motive or phrase; they must be accounted

for in someway,--must derive their metric pulse from some group,--and

as they cannot be a part of the first measure, they obviously form a

borrowed portion of the (preceding) last measure. This will be better

understood by reference to Ex. 14, No. 3; the two 16ths at the end of

the 4th measure (preliminary tones of the following phrase) are

borrowed from the f which precedes,--the final tone of the first

phrase, that would, but for this reduction, have been the full

half-note necessary to complete the four measures (like the final g).



Perhaps the most striking feature of this rule of preliminary tones is

the absolute freedom of its application. It is always wholly

optional with the composer to begin his figure or motive at whatever

part of the measure he may elect; at the accent or not; with or without

preliminary tones; to borrow beats from the preceding ending or not, as

his judgment or taste, or possibly some indirect requirement, may

decide. So valid is this license, that it is by no means unusual to

find consecutive members of the same phrase beginning at different

points in the measure. This results, apparently, in motives of

irregular, unsymmetric lengths; but no confusion is possible if the

student will recollect and apply the rule that the objective point (the

heart, so to speak) of each motive is the first primary accent it

contains; counting from these points, all irregularities of melodic

extent become purely accidental and harmless. For illustration (the

preliminary tones are marked a):--



In No. 1, the first motive evidently ends with the longer tone,

g-sharp. In No. 2, each one of the four motives differs from the

others in length; the sum of them is, however, exactly 24 beats, or 8

measures; hence, each one is actually a two-measure motive, counting

from accent to accent. The upper numbers indicate the actual, vital

beginning of each motive.



This very natural, and fairly common, inequality increases the

difficulty of analysis somewhat. A knowledge of the principal chords,

and familiarity with their manner of employment in composition, greatly

facilitates the task, because the harmonic design furnishes in many

cases the only unmistakable clue to the extremities of the melodic

members. The difficulty finally vanishes only when the student has

learned to appreciate the declamatory quality of all good melody, and

can detect its inflections, its pauses; can feel which (and how many)

of its tones are coherent and inseparable, and where the points of

repose interrupt the current, and thus divulge the sense of the melodic

sentence.