{{Short description|Scale degree that is musically unpleasant}} '''Avoid note''' is an informal term used in jazz to describe pitches that are potentially problematic in a harmony.
==Definition== In jazz parlance, avoid note is a term that is sometimes applied to pitches that might clash with a harmony. An F against a C major chord could be considered an avoid note because it lies a semitone above the third, an interval which was historically heard as dissonance.<ref name=DT/><ref name="nettles3" /><ref name=haerle/> Treating the F as a passing tone is a simpler way to use it in a melody over a C major chord.<ref name=humph/>
Jazz chords can be voiced in so many different and complex ways, that nearly any note can be incorporated into a harmony.<ref name=DT>Terefenko, Dariusz. ''Jazz Theory: From Basic to Advanced Study''. Second edition. Taylor and Francis, 2017. 79.</ref> When the C major triad is extended by thirds into a second octave, the F reappears as the 11th of the chord. 11ths are common chord extensions in jazz. They are often raised by a semitone to create a mellower major 9th against the third of a major chord.<ref name=nettles/>
The sixth scale degree in the Dorian mode might be considered an avoid tone because it can imply a dominant chord.<ref name=nettles3/>
==See also== *Eleventh chord *Thirteenth chord *Tritone *Chord-scale system
== References == <references>
<ref name=haerle>{{cite book|last=Haerle|first=Dan|title=The Jazz Language: A Theory Text for Jazz Composition and Improvisation|year=1980|publisher=Studio 224|location=Miami, Florida|isbn=978-0-7604-0014-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1bS2qCya9rsC}}</ref>
<ref name=humph>{{cite book|last=Humphries|first=Carl|title=The Piano Improvisation Handbook|url=https://archive.org/details/pianoimprovisati0000hump/page/280/mode/1up|url-access=limited|year=2009|publisher=Backbeat Books|location=San Francisco: Freeman|isbn=0-87930-727-7|edition=1st|page=280}}</ref>
<ref name=nettles>{{cite book|last=Nettles|first=Barrie|title=Harmony 1|year=1987|publisher=Berklee College of Music|page=34-35|url=https://ia803107.us.archive.org/27/items/guitarfiles_20191016/Berklee%20-%20Harmony%201.pdf}}</ref>
<ref name=nettles3>{{cite book|last=Nettles|first=Barrie|title=Harmony 3|year=1987|publisher=Berklee College of Music|pages=15–17|url=https://modernguitarharmony.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Berklee_College_of_Music_-_Harmony_3.pdf}}</ref>
</references>
{{Consonance and dissonance}} {{Jazz theory}}
Category:Consonance and dissonance Category:Jazz techniques Category:Jazz terminology