Chord Progressions Part 2:

The 4 Cadences you need to start using in your chord progressions today.

In Part 1 we covered some theory. We also learnt some basic chord progression examples built from 2 chords. We also learnt that the Tonic (I) is the most common chord to start a chord progression from.

We are now going to learn how to end our chord progressions. All examples are in the key of C major and exclude any cadences from the minor scales.

Cadence: Ending a section of music.

A cadence is a progression of usually 2 chords which creates a sense of resolution, such as a pause in, or an ending off, a section of music. They are the equivalent of commas (pause or separation of ideas ) and periods (full stop) in the written text.

There are 2 main types of cadences, Finished cadences and Unfinished cadences.

The Finished Cadences

All the finished cadences end on the Tonic (I) making them feel finished. They are used to end musical phrases.

Perfect Cadence

The Perfect cadence (also known as the Authentic cadence) is a finished cadence which moves from the Dominant (V) to the Tonic (I). This cadence has a very strong finish to it due to ending on the Tonic chord (I).

Chord progressions with a perfect cadence.

Plagal Cadence

The Plagal Cadence (also known as the Amen Cadence) is a finished cadence which moves from the Subdominant (IV) to the Tonic (I). This cadence also has a strong finish to it as it also ends on the Tonic (I), but not as strong as the Perfect cadence due to its preceding Subdominant (IV). The Plagal cadence is the only one without a Dominant chord.

Chord progressions with a plagal cadence.

The Unfinished Cadences

These cadences do not end on the Tonic (I) making them feel unfinished. They are used during a phrase but not at the end of a phrase. The music feels like it needs to continue after the Unfinished Cadence until it can resolve onto the Tonic (I).

Imperfect Cadences

The imperfect cadences (also known as the half cadences) are unfinished cadences. They can start on either the Tonic (I), Subdominant (IV) or Supertonic (ii) and end on the Dominant (V).

Chord progressions with an imperfect cadence.

Interrupted Cadence

The interrupted cadence (also known as the deceptive cadence) is an unfinished cadence which ends on an unexpected chord causing the music to sound like it has been interrupted. The most common example is the Dominant chord (V) to the Submediant chord (vi).

Chord progressions with an interrupted cadence.

Now we know what cadences are we can start using them in our music.

As an exercise you could use the following formula to build some longer sections. You might want to use the examples of the 4-bar chord progressions from Part 1 of this series of articles: Chord Progressions: An introduction with some theory & examples.

(1) Start with a 4-bar chord progression from the examples in Part 1 of this series.

(2) Add an example of a 4-bar chord progression containing an unfinished cadence (from this article).

(3) Add another 4-bar chord progression from the examples in Part 1 of this series OR use the same one you used for step 1.

(4) Add one of the examples of a finished cadence (from this article).

This should give you a 16-bar section of music which you could use as part of a song.

To create an 8-bar chord progression ending with a finished cadence just use steps (1) and (4).

To create a 12-bar chord progression with an unfinished cadence followed by a finished cadence just use steps (1), (2) and (4).

Keep trying using the different examples of chord progressions from this series and the Cadences from this article until you find something you like.