What Is a High ➏ Drop?

A term of Robert O. Gjerdingen.

An important ornament in the melody of a Converging Cadence is what Gjerdingen calls a High ➏ Drop. Instead of setting ④ with ➋ (a vertical sixth), it is set with a high ➏ (a vertical third), interrupting the stepwise descent. As such, the snippet ➋–➊ is pushed back slightly, with both notes serving as counterpoint to ♯④. The descent from ➏ to ➋ can be in thirds or stepwise.

Select Bibliography

Gjerdingen, Robert O. Music in the Galant Style (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).