In AP Music Theory, an anticipation is a nonchord tone that arrives ahead of its harmony, sounding on a weak beat as a dissonance, then repeating on the strong beat where it becomes a chord tone. It is most common at cadences, where scale degree 1 sneaks in over the V chord before the tonic arrives.
An anticipation is an embellishing tone (nonchord tone) that shows up early. A melody note belonging to the next chord sounds before that chord actually arrives, usually on a weak beat or weak part of the beat. For that brief moment it clashes with the current harmony, making it a nonchord tone. Then the chord changes, the note repeats (or is held), and suddenly it fits. The dissonance resolves not by the note moving, but by the harmony catching up to it.
The textbook example happens at a perfect authentic cadence. Over the V chord, the soprano jumps ahead to scale degree 1, the note that belongs to the coming tonic chord. It sounds dissonant against V for a moment, then I arrives and the same pitch is now perfectly consonant. Anticipations are typically approached by step and "resolve" by repetition on the same pitch, which makes them the odd one out among nonchord tones. Every other embellishing tone moves somewhere after the dissonance. The anticipation just waits.
Anticipations live in the embellishing-tones material of AP Music Theory (Unit 6), where you learn to identify and write nonchord tones like passing tones, neighbor tones, suspensions, and anticipations in Common Practice Era style. They also tie directly into the cadence and harmonic-function skills from Unit 4, because anticipations cluster at cadences. Recognizing one matters in two directions. In analysis, you need to label that early scale degree 1 as ANT instead of calling the V chord wrong. In dictation, an anticipation can trick your ear into hearing the tonic chord one beat too soon. Knowing the pattern keeps your Roman numerals honest.
Keep studying AP® Music Theory Unit 6
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view galleryNonchord Tone (Unit 6)
An anticipation is one member of the nonchord-tone family, alongside passing tones, neighbors, suspensions, and appoggiaturas. Its fingerprint is unique, though. It is the only common embellishing tone that resolves by staying on the same pitch while the chord changes underneath it.
Tendency Tones (Unit 4)
Tendency tones like the leading tone pull strongly toward a resolution note. An anticipation is what happens when the music gives in to that pull a beat early. At a cadence, the soprano anticipates scale degree 1 because that is exactly where the line wants to go anyway.
Harmonic Rhythm (Unit 4)
Harmonic rhythm is the pace at which chords change. An anticipation deliberately breaks that alignment, letting one melodic note jump the gun before the chord changes. That tiny mismatch between melody and harmonic rhythm is exactly what creates the anticipation's momentary dissonance.
Common Practice Era (Units 1-8)
AP part-writing and analysis follow Common Practice Era conventions, and anticipations follow the era's rules too. They sit in metrically weak positions, are approached by step, and resolve by repetition. A 'dissonance' on a strong beat that resolves down by step is a suspension, a different device with the opposite metric profile.
Anticipations show up mostly in identification tasks. Multiple-choice questions (both aural and score-based) may play or show a melodic excerpt and ask you to name the embellishing tone, so you need to spot the pattern of a weak-beat dissonance followed by the same pitch as a chord tone. In harmonic analysis, the skill is labeling the note ANT instead of misreading the chord. In dictation, the trap runs the other way, since an anticipated scale degree 1 can fool you into writing the tonic chord one beat early. Fiveable practice questions also push the conceptual angle, like how an anticipation at a perfect authentic cadence affects tension and resolution. The answer is that it borrows the resolution pitch ahead of time, creating a brief clash over V that makes the arrival on I feel even more settled.
They are mirror images. A suspension holds an OLD note into a new chord, so the dissonance lands on a strong beat and resolves down by step. An anticipation sounds a NEW note before its chord arrives, so the dissonance sits on a weak beat and resolves by repeating the same pitch. Quick check on the exam: strong-beat dissonance that moves down equals suspension, weak-beat dissonance that stays put equals anticipation.
An anticipation is a nonchord tone that sounds a note from the upcoming chord before that chord arrives, creating a brief dissonance on a weak beat.
It resolves by repetition, meaning the pitch stays the same and the harmony changes underneath it to make the note consonant.
The most common anticipation is scale degree 1 sounding in the soprano over the V chord right before a perfect authentic cadence.
Anticipation is the metric opposite of a suspension, which puts its dissonance on the strong beat and resolves down by step.
On the AP exam, label anticipations as ANT in analysis and watch for them in dictation, where they can make you hear a chord change one beat too early.
It's an embellishing tone (nonchord tone) that sounds a note from the next chord before that chord arrives. It appears on a weak beat as a dissonance, then becomes a chord tone when the harmony changes, most often at cadences.
No, and that's what makes it unique among nonchord tones. The anticipated pitch repeats or holds on the same note, and the resolution happens because the chord changes underneath it. Every other common embellishing tone resolves by actually moving.
A suspension holds an old note into a new chord, putting the dissonance on the strong beat and resolving down by step. An anticipation sounds a new note early, putting the dissonance on the weak beat and resolving on the same pitch. Think of them as metric mirror images.
Unaccented. The dissonance falls on a weak beat or weak part of the beat, and the note becomes consonant on the following strong beat when its chord arrives. If you see an accented dissonance resolving down by step, you're looking at a suspension or appoggiatura instead.
Overwhelmingly at cadences, especially perfect authentic cadences. The classic move is scale degree 1 in the soprano sounding over the V or V7 chord just before the tonic chord lands, which makes the arrival on I feel extra final.
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