A passing note is a non-chord note on a weak beat or part of a beat between two different chord factors of a chord or between two different notes of two different chords. In other words, “passing [notes] connect two chord factors via stepwise motion in the same direction” (Schubert/Neidhöfer (2006), p. 40). A passing note can suggest a new chord by means of a chromatic alteration:
Select Bibliography
Kennan, Kent. Counterpoint Based on Eighteenth-Century Practice — Fourth Edition (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1999).
Schubert, Peter & Christoph Neidhöfer. Baroque Counterpoint (New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006).