In a nonharmonic tone, preparation is, in the move of a pitch or chord from a consonance to a dissonance, the consonant pitch or chord which precedes the dissonance. The move from the dissonance to a consonance is resolution.
For example, in the following anticipation, the preparation is on the left, the nonharmonic tone is in the center marked in red, and the resolution is on the right:
|
||||||||