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    Cadences in Music Theory

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    Grant
    A cadence is a two-chord progression at the end of a musical phrase that provides resolution. There are four main types of cadences: 1) Authentic cadences involve resolving from V to I and are considered the strongest, 2) Half cadences end on V and sound incomplete, 3) Plagal cadences involve resolving from IV to I, and 4) Deceptive cadences involve resolving from V to something other than I, creating a sense of deception.

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    Cadences in Music Theory

    Uploaded by

    Grant
    298 views5 pages
    A cadence is a two-chord progression at the end of a musical phrase that provides resolution. There are four main types of cadences: 1) Authentic cadences involve resolving from V to I and are considered the strongest, 2) Half cadences end on V and sound incomplete, 3) Plagal cadences involve resolving from IV to I, and 4) Deceptive cadences involve resolving from V to something other than I, creating a sense of deception.

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    CADENCES IN MUSIC THEORY

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    A cadence is a two-chord progression at the end of a musical phrase that provides resolution. There are four main types of cadences: 1) Authentic cadences involve resolving from V to I and are considered the strongest, 2) Half cadences end on V and sound incomplete, 3) Plagal cadences involve resolving from IV to I, and 4) Deceptive cadences involve resolving from V to something other than I, creating a sense of deception.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    298 views5 pages

    Cadences in Music Theory

    Uploaded by

    Grant
    A cadence is a two-chord progression at the end of a musical phrase that provides resolution. There are four main types of cadences: 1) Authentic cadences involve resolving from V to I and are considered the strongest, 2) Half cadences end on V and sound incomplete, 3) Plagal cadences involve resolving from IV to I, and 4) Deceptive cadences involve resolving from V to something other than I, creating a sense of deception.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 5

    MUSIC THEORY NOTES

    CADENCES

    A cadence is a two-chord progression at the end of a phrase in music. A phrase as


    a complete musical thought with the cadence being the end of that musical
    thought. To illustrate, we will use the “Happy Birth Day” song.

    1
    Notice how each phrase has its own “complete musical thought.” As you come
    across each cadence, you will notice that some cadences sound complete and
    others leave you hanging. This is because of the four different kinds of cadence:

    1. Authentic Cadence
    2. Half Cadence
    3. Plagal Cadence
    4. Deceptive Cadence

    Authentic Cadence

    An authentic cadence is a cadence formed by progression from the dominant (V) to


    the tonic (I). Sometimes a seventh is added to the V chord (dominant seventh) for
    an even stronger resolving sound. Authentic cadences are generally classified
    as perfect or imperfect.

     Perfect Authentic Cadences 
    In a perfect authentic cadence (PAC), the chords are in root position, i.e. the roots
    of both chords are in the bass. In addition, the tonic is in the highest voice of the
    final chord. This is generally considered the strongest type of cadence.

    2
     Imperfect Authentic Cadence
    There are three distinct types of imperfect authentic cadences (IAC):

     Root Position IAC: Similar to a perfect authentic cadence, but the


    highest voice is not the tonic.
     Inverted IAC: Similar to a perfect authentic cadence, but one or
    both chords are inverted.
     Leading Tone IAC: The V chord is replaced with the leading tone
    (viio) chord, but the cadence still ends on the tonic (I).

    Though imperfect authentic cadences are very similar to authentic cadences, they
    feel a bit weaker than authentic cadences.

    Half Cadence

    A half cadence is any cadence ending on the dominant (V), regardless of which
    chord precedes it. Because it sounds incomplete or suspended, the half cadence is
    considered a weak cadence that calls for a continuation. Rarely do half cadences
    end a piece, but they are found many times in the first half of a chorus or verse.

    3
    Plagal Cadence

    A plagal cadence is a cadence composed of a progression from the subdominant


    (IV) to the tonic (I). It is also known as the Amen Cadence because of its frequent
    setting to the text “Amen” in hymns. Here it is being used at the end of The
    Doxology Hymn.

    The term “minor plagal cadence” is used to refer to the iv–I progression.
    Sometimes a combination of major and minor plagal cadence is used (IV–iv–I).
    Though it is rare, it is quite a pleasant sound.

    4
    Deceptive Cadence

    A deceptive cadence is a progression in which the dominant chord (V) resolves to


    a chord other than the tonic (I). In most cases, the dominant (V) will lead to the
    submediant chord (vi in major keys, VI in minor keys). The sound is “deceptive”
    because the listener expects a resolution to the tonic (I) and does not get it.

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