What a Cadence is and How to Use it

You could say that all music is transitory. In other words, it's always moving. This is essentially the purpose of chord progressions (chords that are always moving or progressing). One such chord progression is known as a cadence.

A cadence is simply a combination of chords that are used at the end of a phrase, section, or piece of music. Its purpose is to create resolution or a pause in a piece of music. They can be labeled as weak or strong as it depends upon its sense of finality.

Cadences are usually classified by specific chord or melodic progressions. But the presence of progressions don't necessarily constitute a cadence. Just keep in mind that there must be a sense of closure at the end of a phrase in music for it to be a cadence.

Interestingly enough, there are different kinds of cadences and I want to share with you three of them in this article.  Roman numerals are often used to illustrate diatonic harmony of the number system, so be familiar with them.

1 The Authentic Cadence
The Authentic Cadence is a progression from the V chord to the I Chord. Let's use the key of C Major as an example.

The V chord which is based on the dominant note of the key will often contain the flatted 7th tone.

The I chord There's a subset of the authentic cadence that further defines whether it is a "Perfect Authentic Cadence" or " Imperfect Authentic Cadence". Whether it is one or the other depends upon the voicing (the way in which the notes of the chord are arranged).

In the perfect authentic cadence, the chords are in root position. (meaning that the roots of both chords are in the bass). The tonic of the chord is the highest voice of the final chord (I). This is considered to be the strongest type of cadence. You can definitely hear the resolution in this cadence.The imperfect authentic cadence is one in which the tonic of the chord is not the highest note. Instead, the chord is inverted meaning that any of the other notes can be on top of the chord.

Here's an example with the 3rd as the top voiceYou may also have the 5th as the top voice

2 The Plagal Cadence

The plagal cadence is also known as the "amen" cadence due to the fact that it is widely used in Gospel music as well as hymns to denote "amen" at the end of a song. It's a progression from the IV chord to the I Chord. We'll stay with the key of C Major as an example.

3 The Half Cadence

A half cadence ends on the V chord and doesn't have a strong resolution. It can be proceeded by a multitude of other diatonic chords. It's also known as a weak cadence. It sounds incomplete or suspended. It's a cadence that calls for continuation. You'll find they function as more of a pause within a song.  It can be from the I to V chord.

Bonus: The Deceptive Cadence

A deceptive cadence does exactly that. It deceives the ear into thinking that the progression is going to resolve but moves to a chord that it doesn't expect. A good example is moving from the V chord to the vi chord. Like the half cadence, it also has a feeling of suspension.