nota cambiata

A nota cambiata as a simple passing note (1) and as a changing note group (2).

In music, term used in two senses in the analysis of 16th-century polyphony. In one sense, nota cambiata refers to a dissonant passing note (note joining two notes a third apart) on the beat. In a second sense, the term refers to a curling figure (also called ‘changing note group’) in which a dissonant passing note (not on the beat) leads to a note a third lower, which then rises one step.