Types of Tonal Cadences

Robert T. Kelley

A cadence is any point of repose in music. In tonal music, cadences are most often accompanied by formulaic chord progressions that help to establish the degree or amount of repose. It is thus important to be able to determine what constitutes musical repose, because not every V - I motion in music qualifies as a cadence. Musical repose is generally achieved through melodic, rhythmic, textural, and/or dynamic means. There will usually be a rest or a long note value, a thinning of musical activity and texture, and melodies will tend to descend. Because repose can be vague, subtle, or sometimes not evident in the score, most often the final arbiter of cadential activity will be the ear. Once the existence of a cadence has been established, then it can be categorized and given a label according to its type as shown below.

• Authentic Cadence (AC)
  • Perfect (PAC)
    • Must have root position V (or V7) and root position I
    • The I chord must have scale degree 1 in soprano
    • Use of I64 (cadential 6/4) will strengthen any authentic cadence
  • Imperfect (IAC)
    • Any other cadence that involves a leading tone, such as:
    • V - I, V7 - I
    • V6 - I, V65 - I
    • V - I6, V42 - I6, V43 - I6
    • V64 - I, vii°6 - I, V43 - I
    • vii°7 - I, vii°65 - I, etc.
    • iii - I (very rare)
• Half Cadence (HC)
  • (normal)
    • Any diatonic chord followed by V (usually in root position, usually not V7) such as:
    • I - V, I6 - V, I64 - V
    • ii - V, ii6 - V, ii7 - V, ii65 - V, ii43 - V, ii42 - V6 (rare)
    • iii - V (somewhat rare)
    • IV - V, IV6 - V, IV7 - V, IV65 - V
    • vi - V, vi6 - V (rare)
    • vii°7 - V (rare)
  • Phrygian (PHC)
    • The term "Phrygian cadence" describes a cadential formation that was typical of Renaissance polyphony written in the Phrygian mode.
    • The term "Phrygian half cadence" describes a cadence that matches the Phrygian cadence in terms of pitch content, but is used as a half cadence.
    • The Phrygian half cadence occurs only in minor: iv6 - V. By extension, any half cadence that involves downward motion of a minor second in the bass to scale degree 5 could also be classified as a Phrygian half cadence (VI - V, iių43 - V, Ger/Fr/It#6 - V)
  • Tonicized (THC)
    • In the tonicized half cadence, V is preceded by its applied dominant (V/V) or leading tone chord (vii°7/V).
    • This may have the effect of sounding like a modulation, but the tonicized half cadence will function as a half cadence in the original key, not an authentic cadence in a new key.
• Deceptive Cadence (DC)
  • (normal)
    • The most common deceptive cadence is V - vi
    • All upper voices must resolve properly as though it were an authentic cadence, but the bass simply moves up by step. This usually results in doubling the third of the vi chord.
    • Using an inversion of the V chord usually weakens the cadential sound so much that it ruins the "deceptive" quality.
  • Tonicized
    • Often the V - vi motion will be filled in with a chromatic passing motion in the bass, resulting in V7 - vii°7/vi - vi, or (very rarely) V7 - V65/vi - vi.
  • Other possibilities
    • V - IV6
    • V - vii°65/V
    • V - Ger/Fr/It #6
    • V - V65/IV
    • V - V/vi
    • V - bII6
• Plagal (PC)
  • (normal)
    • A plagal cadence always moves to tonic by retrogressive motion, most typically IV - I.
    • This cadence is weakened by the absence of leading tone resolution to tonic.
    • Plagal cadences thus tend most often to affirm previous cadential activity by occurring after an authentic cadence (V - I - IV - I).
  • Other typical plagal motions:
    • IV6 - I6, IV64 - I, VI - I, iių42 - I, V7/IV - IV64 - I, etc.

Return to Analytical Techniques
Return to The Theory & Practice of Tonal Harmony
Return to Pedagogical Resources
Return to Robert Kelley's Music Website

© 2001 . Reproduction of any part of or ideas from this document without permission is unlawful.