What is Retardation?

A retardation in harmony is a type of non-chord tone that occurs when a note from one chord is held into the next chord, creating temporary dissonance before resolving upward by step to a consonant note. It is similar to a suspension, but instead of resolving downward, the note resolves upward.

Like suspensions, retardations usually follow three stages: preparation, retardation, and resolution. In the preparation stage, the note belongs to the first chord. In the retardation stage, the note is held while the harmony changes, causing a brief clash with the new chord. In the resolution stage, the note moves upward by step to a chord tone that fits the harmony.

Retardations are less common than suspensions but are still used in classical harmony and choral writing. They create a similar sense of tension and release, but the upward resolution gives the effect a slightly different musical character. An example is a 7–8 retardation, where a note forming a seventh above the bass resolves upward to an octave.