What describes a suspension in musical terms?

A suspension in musical terms refers to a specific technique where a pitch is held over from one chord to the next, creating a moment of dissonance that is resolved by moving that pitch downward by a step. This process creates tension followed by resolution, which is a fundamental characteristic in many musical genres, helping to drive harmonic movement and emotional expression.

In this context, while other options might describe various musical concepts, they do not accurately capture the essence of what a suspension entails. For instance, a sustained tone describes an aspect of sound or voice carrying over but does not specify the movement from dissonance to consonance that defines a suspension. Other terms, like a rapid sequence of arpeggios or a thematic idea repeated, focus instead on different musical techniques and structures that do not align with the particular function of a suspension in harmony. Therefore, the identification of a suspension as a dissonance resolved downward by step clearly defines its role in harmonic progression.