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leading tone

The note a semitone below home, which pulls strongly up to it.

The note a semitone below home, which leans upward into it so strongly it feels magnetic. It is what makes a dominant chord resolve and a cadence land; natural minor lacks one, which is why harmonic minor raises its seventh to build one. The pull toward home, in a single note.

Learn it: Minor scales

The one-sentence definition at the top is the same one the Theory Aide extension shows as a tooltip inside Ableton Live. Hover any dotted term for its own.