So, you've written quite a nice little song, have you? It has all the elements of a great and catchy song; it has a solid chord progression, it has a nice breakdown in the middle, and it even has a pretty cool guitar solo in the middle. You have ALMOST everything you need to make this song shine. What's missing, you ask? Why, only one of the most important concepts in all of music: a cadence!
Cadence comes from the Latin word cadentia, which means "
a falling". In music, it's the term used to describe the ending to a musical section, phrase, or piece. Basically, it indicates closure. It is outlined by certain intervals or chords, and based on how those intervals or chords are used, you can determine how much "
closure" your musical phrase has. Know that whiny ex-girlfriend that complains that you never gave your relationship closure? In a musical sense, a cadence is what she wanted. Wow, that's a pretty good analogy. Because, just as there are multiple methods of closure, there are multiple kinds of cadences. Some are stronger than others; certain cadences are used to indicate the definitive ending to a piece. Other, weaker cadences can be used to transition between different parts in a piece. Don't worry, I'll go into detail.
Authentic Cadence
As its name suggests, this type of cadence certainly is authentic; prehistoric, if you will. It's also known as a Perfect Cadence. It is by far the most common type of cadence you will encounter. It is used so often (almost always at the end of a piece) because of its incredibly strong sense of closure. An authentic cadence at the ending of your piece will go from the V chord back to the I (root) chord. If you're not familiar with the basic Roman Numeral Analysis of chords, you can start by checking out the wonderful column "Identifying Intervals" by coffeeguy9; that should give you the basic understanding you'll need for this article.
Anyway, since the key of C Major is such a nice and easy key to work with, let's use that. You should know that there are 2 types of Authentic Cadences. Let's examine both of those, in C Major:
Perfect Authentic Cadence
Okay, let's use that C Major key and make a little progression. Just because I'm in a bit of a rag-time mood, we'll go with this one:
|C|C|F|F|C|C|G|G|C|C|F|F|C|G|C|C|
Now, that's a pretty nice-sounding progression right there. But, when you want it to come to a definitive end, you should try an
Authentic Cadence. Since the V chord in the key of C is a G, then instead of those last 2 bars being |C|C|, they could be |C-G-|C|. What exactly makes an Authentic Cadence a Perfect Authentic Cadence, you ask? If both the V and the I chords are in first position (meaning the root note of the chord is their lowest note), and if the root note of the I chord is also the highest sounding note (in this case, C is your I chord, so C should be your highest note), then what you have is a Perfect Authentic Cadence. To make things clearer, here is a tab of what your G and C chords could look like:
G C
|3---------------|
|3-------1-------|
|0-------0-------|
|0-------2-------|
|2-------3-------|
|3---------------|
Notice that the G is the root note of the G chord, and C is both the root
and highest note of the C chord. This constitutes a Perfect Authentic Cadence. However, there's another type of Authentic Cadence.
Imperfect Authentic Cadence
Those rules for the Perfect Authentic Cadence are a little picky, aren't they? I think so, anyway. The guidelines for making an Imperfect Authentic Cadence are a little more lenient. An Authentic Cadence uses the V then the I chord, and for it to be Imperfect, none of the chords have to be in root position. You can have one or both of your ending chords be inversions, rather than in root position. For instance, your last 2 chords could be a G 2nd inversion and a C 2nd inversion, like so:
V 6/4 I 6/4
|3-------0-------|
|3-------1-------|
|0-------0-------|
|0-------2-------|
|--------3-------|
|--------3-------|
G C
The G chord is a 2nd inversion because the fifth (D) is the root note. The C chord is a 2nd inversion because the fifth (G) is the root note. However, they are still G and C chords nonetheless. The fact that they are not in root position, however, means that this is an example of an Imperfect Authentic Cadence. You should also note that an E is the highest note in a C chord, as opposed to a C; this also rules out the possibility that this could be a
Perfect Authentic Cadence.
Wow, hope that's clear to you. It's a bit difficult to grasp at first, I know, but I'll be sure and give more helpful examples along the way here. But wait! There are more kinds of cadences!
Half Cadence
Whereas going from the V chord to the I chord provides an Authentic Cadence, going from something else to the V chord provides what is known as a Half Cadence. Theoretically speaking, it's acceptable to go from any chord to the V chord, but the most common Half Cadences you will find will be I-V, IV-V, or ii-V. This is especially cool because it gives a sort of floating, hanging feeling, as if there should be more. It works well at the end of a piece, though it can be equally as effective to transition between two different musical phrases. When it comes to cadences, you can pretty much use them in whichever way you personally feel necessary. That's the beauty of the cadence! Anyway, here are 3 different possible Half Cadences you could use, in the C Major key again:
I V
|--------3-------|
|1-------3-------|
|0-------0-------|
|2-------0-------|
|3-------2-------|
|--------3-------|
C G
IV V
|1-------3-------|
|1-------3-------|
|2-------0-------|
|3-------0-------|
|3-------2-------|
|1-------3-------|
F G
ii V
|1-------3-------|
|3-------3-------|
|2-------0-------|
|0-------0-------|
|--------2-------|
|--------3-------|
Dm G
There is also a special kind of Half Cadence called a Phrygian Half Cadence. In a minor key, a
Phrygian Half Cadence is outlined by going from the iv chord to the V chord. Using the A minor key (relative minor of C Major), here's your Phrygian Half Cadence:
iv V
|1-------0-------|
|3-------0-------|
|2-------1-------|
|0-------2-------|
|--------2-------|
|--------0-------|
Dm E
This is called the Phrygian Half Cadence because the D minor's F and the E Major's E outline the Phrygian Mode.
Anon, more cadences await!
Plagal Cadence
This one's fairly simple. For a Plagal Cadence, you need to go from the IV chord to the I chord. In a minor key, it would be the same as going from the iv chord to the i chord. Using the ever-faithful C Major key again, here's what your Plagal Cadence should look like:
IV I
|1-------0-------|
|1-------1-------|
|2-------0-------|
|3-------2-------|
|3-------3-------|
|1---------------|
F C
This cadence is also referred to as the "Amen Cadence" because it is frequently used at the end of hymns.
Feel like throwing your listener for a loop? Keep reading, because this next cadence is an especially cool one.
Deceptive/Interrupted Cadence
As its name suggests, it certainly can be a deceiving end to a passage. The first half of your Deceptive Cadence is a V chord. But, instead of going back to the I chord, you go to another one; psyche! Here's the catch, though; in order for it to be a "true" Deceptive Cadence, the chord you resolve to has to contain 2 of the 3 notes of the triad of your I chord. It is a common misconception that Deceptive Cadences go from the V chord to any other chord (and it is often taught incorrectly this way), but in reality, the chord you resolve to must contain 2 notes from your I triad. Take a look at this wrong Deceptive Cadence, in C Major:
V IV
|3-------1-------|
|3-------1-------|
|0-------2-------|
|0-------3-------|
|2-------3-------|
|3-------1-------|
G F
That is
almost a
Deceptive Cadence, because the note C is shared between the IV (F) chord and the I (C) chord. Remember, though, you need two notes in the resolved triad to match the I chord to make it a true Deceptive Cadence. So we could resolve to an F7:
V IV7
|3-------1-------|
|3-------1-------|
|0-------2-------|
|0-------1-------|
|2-------3-------|
|3-------1-------|
G F7
See, a C Major triad is CEG, and an F7 chord is FAC with an E in it, so you've got your C and E, which are 2 notes in a C Major triad. Voila! There's a true
Deceptive Cadence!
An Interrupted Cadence works differently, though. The first half of an Interrupted Cadence is, again, the V chord, but instead of going to another chord that has 2 of the 3 notes of your root triad in it, you can go to anything! V-ii, V-vii7, V-iii; it's up to you! That's all that separates a Deceptive Cadence from an Interrupted Cadence. With an Interrupted Cadence, it's easier to transpose to another key, because theoretically you can go to any other chord you want. Just keep that in mind if you think your piece needs to transition to a different key.
The idea behind a Deceptive Cadence is to make the listener anticipate the I chord, but then be bombarded with something completely different. It can make a neat piece-ender, yet it works especially well if you want to transition to another key.
Some More Cadence Facts O' The Day
In addition to being classified by their intervals or chords, cadences can also be classified by where the cadence occurs.
Masculine Cadence
It is called Masculine because it generally has a strong effect. Typically the Masculine Cadence will occur on the downbeat of a measure, most commonly on beat 3 or 4.
Feminine Cadence
This one is called Feminine because it is usually placed in a weaker position in a measure than the Masculine Cadence. A Feminine Cadence will usually be dragged out longer, and most Feminine Cadences will occur on beat 1 of a measure, most likely after the first chord of the cadence is held for one whole preceding measure. I know, it's sexist to say that a Feminine Cadence isn't as strong as a Masculine Cadence, right? Sorry, but no other terms are really as common. Perhaps the Masculine Cadence should be referred to as the Jedi Cadence, which is stronger than the Sith Cadence? No? Just suggesting alternatives, is all.
Rhythmic Cadence
This is separate from the chords that determine the aforementioned cadences. A Rhythmic Cadence is determined by the rhythmic patterns which characterize it. Some cadences can be just as memorable for their rhythm as the actual harmonic intervals used in them. For instance, if you're in 2/4 time, the last 2 measures of your piece could have a rhythm like so (Q=quarter note, E=eighth note, S=sixteenth note):
|Q---E-E-|E-SSQ---|
Certain rhythms can just provide a memorable quality to your cadence. Granted the harmonic intervals behind your cadences should always be considered first, analyze how you could arrange the rhythm, too.
Well, those are essentially the basics of the wonderful concept of cadences. Hopefully now you're equipped with all the knowledge you need to end your songs with a bang. After all, a good song has good structure, but a great song has a great cadence. Just some words of wisdom for ya.
Keep on rockin'!
/ my profile 
Hendrix ftw
