Text: A note not essential to harmony, forming an unprepared discord, which is not objectionable because it is a fragment of a scale. It is a necessary characteristic of a passing-note, that it should have a degree of the scale on each side of it. Passing-notes having degrees of a diatonic scale on each side are said to be diatonic; those having degrees of a chromatic scale on each side are said to be chromatic.

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Source: 125