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A harmonic formula that ends a phrase, section, or piece. The musical equivalent of punctuation.
Cadences are your most powerful structural tool. Perfect authentic cadence (V–I, root position, melody on tonic) = period/full stop. Half cadence (ending on V) = comma. Deceptive cadence (V–vi) = unexpected turn. Plan cadences carefully — they define phrase structure and control the listener's sense of arrival.
Mozart's cadences are textbook: clear half cadences at phrase midpoints, perfect authentic cadences at phrase endings, and deceptive cadences for dramatic surprise.
Cadence is one of 1760 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary: the words, abbreviations and instrument names that appear in printed scores, plus the vocabulary composers use to talk about them.
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