Lesson 4: Basic Cadences

Prior Knowledge: All content from Lessons 1-3 should be fully understood before beginning this lesson.

Lesson Content: Perfect, Imperfect and Plagal Cadences. Note that interrupted cadences will not be covered in detail here, as they are far less common in chorales. Approach chords will be looked at separately in Lesson 5: Perfect Cadence Fingerprints & Lesson 6: Imperfect Cadence Fingerprints.

What is a Cadence?

A cadence can be thought of as a form of musical punctuation in that they help define musical structure, particularly phrasing. Any piece employing functional harmony must be definition punctuate musical phrases and sections with perfect (mostly!) cadences, as these are the most ‘complete’ cadences, hence their name. A full breakdown of the cadences and their associated chords, punctuation and effect might look something like this:

Cadence	Chords	Punctuation Equivalent	Effect
Perfect	V-I	Full Stop (.)	Fully complete phrase or a satisfying end of a section (much like that full stop on this sentence).
Imperfect	?-V Common: I-V, IV-V	Comma (,)	Pause/break in the structure, sounds like it must continue (much like the comma in this sentence!).
Interrupted	V-Any Common: V-VI	Question Mark (?)	Your ear will expect a perfect cadence (V-I), which is avoided creating an interrupted cade- (See what I did there?)
Plagal	IV-I	Full Stop (.) But not quite as final…	A plagal cadence is known as the “Amen” cadence because of its use in many popular hymns. The tonic note is present in both chords. Amen to that!

Perfect Cadences

Chords V – I

This creates the most convincing and secure end to a phrase or section. An example is shown below; notice that the bass is the part containing the leap of a 5^th. This interval is distinctive to a perfect cadence, and therefore you must have both cadence chords in root position.

This cadence can be placed under the end of a phrase or section if the melody follows the pattern 2-1 or 7-8. What we mean here is that the melody uses either the supertonic (note 2) falling to the tonic (note 1) or the leading note (7) rising to the tonic (8).

The example above shows a 2-1 melody (D-C in C major) while the example below shows a perfect cadence under a 7-8 melody (B-C in C major).

Decorating Perfect Cadences

The perfect cadence above can be decorated with passing notes. Below are several possibilities:

1 – Passing in the alto        2 – passing in the tenor     3 – both passing notes 

However! Stylistically, there is a right and wrong way to do things. Only one of the above examples should actually be used in your Bach Chorale harmonisation, and it is as much to do with what is stylistic of Bach as it is with what functions best.

The Bach 3^rd

Let us look at the un-decorated cadence:

Notice how the leading note (circled) does not actually rise to the tonic? “Alas!” I hear you cry, “But shouldn’t the leading note always move up to the tonic?“. Usually, yes – we wouldn’t want to upset anyone’s expectations by going the wrong way and leaving them hanging! However, there is trickery afoot here. As the leading note falls to the 5^th of the following chord, your ear automatically fills in the missing tonic note, so you ear is tricked into thinking all is well. This then means the chord can then be written fully, with a 5^th that otherwise would not be present. There a little aural “tricks” like that throughout music (if you’re interested in others, check out shepard tones!) and they allow you to do thinks you couldn’t otherwise.

This is known as the Bach 3^rd, and you should always leave this 3^rd un-decorated in a cadence, else the effect is ruined and it will not sound as satisfactory.

The Passing 7^th

Let us now look at the alto part, where there is another possible passing note to add:

Here, we have the root note of chord V falling by a 3^rd to the 3^rd of chord I. This gives us an invaluable opportunity to create a very special kind of passing note: a passing 7^th.

The example below shows a passing note that has been added to this example. Notice the root of chord V is in the bass, but has also been doubled in the alto, which allows us to add a passing note here without losing the root of the chord.

Because this is an 8^ve interval from the bass, adding the passing note creates a 7^th interval between the bass and in this case the alto, which then resolves as a passing note should. This is what a passing 7^th is – quite simply a passing note that also creates a 7^th chord momentarily.

Perfect Cadences in a Minor Key

These follow the same patterns as for a major key, but remember that chord V in a minor key is always a major chord (because of the raised 7^th). For example:

Here we can see the perfect cadence in Am, with chord V major. There is also a passing 7^th in the alto, and a Bach 3^rd left unadorned in the tenor.

There is one more feature we can include in a minor key perfect cadence, and that is to create a Tierce de Picardie. This type of cadence involves the use of the Picardie 3^rd, which has been raised to make the final chord of a minor key passage into a major chord. See the example below for a demonstration: 

Notice here the C# in the final chord, working as a Picardie 3^rd and creating a Tierce de Picardie perfect cadence. In your chorale harmonizing, you should always make the final cadence a Tierce de Picardie if it is a minor-key chorale.

Perfect Cadence Task

Write out perfect cadences in three major keys and three minor keys of your choice. You should include Bach 3^rds and passing 7^ths, as well as at least one Tierce de Picardie in a minor key.

 

Imperfect Cadences

An imperfect cadence is one that ends on chord V, creating an ‘unfinished’ sound. Your ears will yearn for the music to return home to chord I for a perfect cadence, but the tension created from leaving the music hanging on chord V then pulls you forward into the next section.

There are any number of ways to create an imperfect cadence as the only steadfast rule is that it must end on chord V. We will look at a few typical options here, all of which will allow for various decorations when we look at approach chords for imperfect cadences in Lesson 6: Imperfect Cadence Fingerprints; but we’re getting ahead of ourselves a little here!

I-V Imperfect Cadence

This is the most common type of imperfect cadence in Bach Chorales, possibly because it is the exact opposite of a perfect cadence and has a natural pull back down to chord I, which we avoid in order to make it imperfect and create the harmonic tension associated with imperfect cadences.

Imperfect cadences using chords I-V can be used on any phrase ending on a melodic pattern 3-2 or 8-7. Below you can see an example of each of these.

Other Imperfect Cadence Options

I-V should be your go-to perfect cadence, along with variations as will be discussed in Lesson 6. However, other chords can create imperfect cadences as long as the cadence ends on chord V.

ii-V Imperfect Cadence

This progression will fit a 6-5 melodic movement, as well as being suitable for some other situations. The way in which it is suitable will be elaborated on when we look at secondary dominants, but for now it is enough that it fits well with the melody. There is even room for a lovely little passing 7^th in the tenor! Also notice the contrary motion in the bass and soprano parts – this is excellent practice when writing chorales, not just in cadences but in general.

Speaking of contrary motion…

IVb-V “Phrygian” Cadence

One final imperfect cadence you should be aware of is the Phrygian cadence. When the melody moves 4-5 in a minor key, you may harmonise with the progression IVb – V. In this progression the bassline resolves onto the root of the dominant chord by moving down a semitone, in contrary motion to the melody line which resolves onto the root of the dominant by ascending a tone. This imperfect cadence sounds more final than other progressions due to the strong voice leading in the outer parts, and for the same reasons is relatively easy to spot by ear.

Imperfect Cadence Task

Write out thee imperfect cadences in a major key and three in a minor key. Use a variety of chords preceding V, including those shown above but also experimenting. Play through them on a piano or via your computer when you are done, and see which cadences work and which do not. Why do they work or not work?

Follow up on this by correcting any mistakes and then adding decorations such as passing 7ths (i.e. ii⁷ – V) and other passing notes, taking care to play through your work to make sure it sounds good and you haven’t over-done the decoration.

Plagal Cadences

The “Amen” cadence is relatively rare in chorale harmonisation, especially in Bach’s chorales, but other composers do use them on occasion. Think of it as another tool in the box, giving you that extra bit of choice for your harmonies. However, if in doubt, use perfect and imperfect cadences only and you’ll be fine.

It can be distinguished as the “Amen” cadence due to its use in popular hymns. If listening or analysing a score, you can identify it by the presence of the tonic in both chords, which will always remain in the same part in both chords. In most cases, and in our example, the tonic is in the soprano for both chords of the cadence. The bass must drop a 4^th to provide a sound similar to a 5^th (remember a 4^th is an inverted 5^th) and hence provides a feeling of finality.

Summary

You should now be able to:

1. End phrases using perfect, imperfect and plagal cadences.
2. Decorate cadences with non-harmony notes, especially passing 7^ths.
3. Identify cadences in a score.

When you are done with this lesson, you are ready for Lesson 5: Perfect Cadence Fingerprints.