retardation
A non-chord tone that functions like a suspension but resolves upward by step instead of downward
In Depth
The retardation shares the three-phase structure of a suspension — preparation, dissonance, resolution — but its resolution moves up rather than down. This gives it a brighter, more hopeful quality compared to the sighing character of a downward-resolving suspension. The most common retardation resolves the leading tone upward to the tonic over a tonic chord, creating a brief 7-8 dissonance. Retardations are less common than suspensions but appear regularly in Baroque and Classical music.
Some theorists consider the retardation merely an upward-resolving suspension rather than a separate category, leading to ongoing debate in music theory pedagogy.