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As a musician, you have certainly played a lot of cadences already, even if you didn’t realise it.
Cadences are at the heart of tonality and constitute the punctuation marks of the musical story.Cadences (from the latin “cadere” = “to fall”) are short chord sequences (usually two chords, sometimes three, very rarely more) that are used to delimit musical sentences. They are classified according to their respective roles.
Notation used:
– all the cadences in this post apply to major and minor tonalities, so I’ll use uppercase Roman numeral only
– the suffix (b) will refer to the first inversion, (c) to the second inversion and (d) to the third inversion. For example IV(b) refers to the IV chord (major or minor) in first inversion, e.g. Fm/Ab in C minor.
– the names of the cadences differ between regions – notably between the US and the UK. I use the names most often used in Continental Europe, which are close the those used in the UK. The important thing however, is to know the role and effect of the various cadences, not their names.Theory
1. Perfect Cadence
The perfect cadence consists of a root position V chord followed by a root position I chord.
For example: G -> C, or G -> Cm
This downward movement of a perfect fifth in the bass is one of the strongest possible movements in tonal music.
The V chord is usually preceded by IV, IV(b), II, II(b), VI, sometimes III.
The perfect cadence corresponds to a period: it indicates the end of a musical passage and is considered very conclusive, even more so when the V7 chord is used in place of the V chord.2. Imperfect Cadence
This is also a V – I chord sequence, but at least one of the two chords is in first inversion. Typically, that will be the I chord, so we will have: V – I(b).
For example: G -> C/E
The imperfect cadence is softer and much less conclusive than the perfect cadence; it corresponds to a semicolon. It is used in place of the perfect cadence if the musical idea currently being developed is not yet finished.3. Plagal Cadence
The plagal cadence is the sequence IV – I in root position. It is traditionally used in hymns (on Amen!) and gospel, but in contemporary pop music it is actually preferred over the perfect cadence because the typical four chord sequence of pop music is looped and not terminated after the fourth chord; a perfect cadence would be too strong.
The plagal cadence is also sometimes used at the very end of a piece after the final perfect cadence; it plays the role of a full stop.4. Interrupted (or Deceptive) Cadence
The cadence is called interrupted when the V chord is not followed by the expected I. The replacement chord is often the VI.
The V chord is usually preceded by IV or II (possibly in 1st inversion).
Its role is somewhat similar to that of an imperfect cadence: the musical idea is not yet completely finished, but the surprise is stronger since the second chord is unexpected.5. Half Cadence
This is any chord sequence leading to V without resolution.
It is typically used as a question mark, or a comma, and indicates that the answer or the subordinate will follow.Sometimes, longer sequences are also called cadences; for example the repeated eight bar progression of the Pachelbel Canon (I V vi iii IV I IV V), or the so-called Andalusian Cadence (iv bIII bII I), or the chord sequence in “I Got Rhythm”.
There are several other cadences, but they are usually variants of those mentioned above and are often associated with specific composers (e.g. the Fauré cadence).Practical application
Let’s apply our cadence knowledge to a simple song. Here is the first verse and chorus of “Blowing In The Wind” in G Major with the usual chords:[G]How many [C]roads must a [D]man walk [G]down
Be[G]fore you [C]call him a [D]man?
[G]How many [C]seas must a [D]white dove [G]sail
Be[G]fore she [C]sleeps in the [D]sand?
Yes, and [G]how many [C]times must the [D]cannonballs [G]fly
Be[G]fore they’re [C]forever [D]banned?The [C]answer, my [D]friend, is [G]blowin’ in the [Em]wind
The [C]answer is [D]blowin’ in the [G]windWe have perfect cadences at the end of the first, third and fifth sentences. That’s OK, but I think they are a little premature and too conclusive so instead of G (I) I’ll use Em (vi) and turn those cadences into interrupted cadences.
On the other hand, the half cadences at the end of sentences 2, 4 and 6 are very appropriate to underline the questions asked by the lyrics. I will keep them.The chorus also contains two perfect cadences which aren’t very appropriate either in my opinion. I’ll re-harmonize the chorus as follows:
The [C]answer, my [D]friend, is [B7]blowin’ in the [Em]wind
The [Am]answer is [D7/F#]blowin’ in the [G]windThe B7 (III7) is a secondary dominant to Em (i.e. a chromatic mediant).
I use the V7(b) instead of V7 to soften the cadence a bit (I personally hear the answer blowing in a soft breeze!) with the upward resolution from F# to G instead of the normal downward cadential resolution from D to G. For contrast I also lumped in Am (ii) to add harmonic variety in the chorus, as the verse was harmonically rather repetitive. So the chorus terminates with a ii – V7(b) – I cadence.Here is the complete new version:
[G]How many [C]roads must a [D]man walk [Em]down
Be[G]fore you [C]call him a [D]man?
[G]How many [C]seas must a [D]white dove [Em]sail
Be[G]fore she [C]sleeps in the [D]sand?
Yes, and [G]how many [C]times must the [D]cannonballs [Em]fly
Be[G]fore they’re [C]forever [D]banned?
The [C]answer, my [D]friend, is [B7]blowin’ in the [Em]wind
The [Am]answer is [D7/F#]blowin’ in the [G]windAttached you will find a personal finger style arrangement of this song; it is very easy, but I nevertheless tried to make it interesting with syncopations typical of the genre, and some smooth bass runs.
Enjoy!
JM
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