What Is a Cadence in Music? The Four Main Types
How music signals that a phrase is ending, and how to hear the difference.
By Maestro
Music has punctuation. Some phrases end with a full stop, some with a comma, and some with a surprise. In music, that punctuation is called a cadence, and once you know what to listen for, you will hear cadences in nearly everything.
What is a cadence in music?
A cadence is the harmonic ending of a musical phrase: usually two chords that tell the listener a phrase has reached a resting point. Some cadences sound completely finished. Others pause and leave the listener expecting more.
The word comes from the Latin cadere, "to fall," because so many cadences come to rest by falling toward the home note.
Why do cadences sound finished?
Because tonal music is built around a home note, called the tonic, and its chord. Other notes and chords pull toward home with different strengths. The strongest pull comes from the chord built on the fifth note of the scale, called the dominant. When the dominant moves to the tonic, several tensions resolve at once, and the ear hears arrival.
The four main types of cadence
Authentic cadence (V–I)
The dominant chord moves to the tonic chord. This is the strongest, most final-sounding cadence, the musical full stop. When both chords are in root position and the melody lands on the home note, it is called a perfect authentic cadence, the most conclusive of all.
How it sounds: finished, settled, complete. Most pieces end this way.
See also: authentic cadence.
Half cadence (ending on V)
The phrase pauses on the dominant chord instead of resolving to the tonic. It is the musical comma: a breath, not an ending.
How it sounds: open, waiting, like a question. Half cadences often end the first half of a melody, with the answer to follow.
See also: half cadence.
Plagal cadence (IV–I)
The chord on the fourth note of the scale moves to the tonic. It is gentler than an authentic cadence and is often called the "Amen" cadence, because it is so often sung to that word at the end of hymns.
How it sounds: soft, warm, settled.
See also: plagal cadence.
Deceptive cadence (V–vi)
The dominant chord sets up a strong expectation of home, then moves somewhere else, most often to the chord on the sixth note of the scale.
How it sounds: a surprise, as if the music were about to finish and then changed its mind. Composers use it to extend a phrase or add an emotional turn.
See also: deceptive cadence.
How can I learn to hear cadences?
- Sing "Amen" at the end of a hymn to feel a plagal cadence.
- Stop a familiar song halfway through. If it feels like a question, you have probably stopped at a half cadence.
- Listen for surprises. When music seems about to end and doesn't, listen for a deceptive cadence.
- Write your own. Composing a short phrase that ends with a half cadence, and a second phrase that answers it with an authentic cadence, teaches cadences faster than any definition.
Why do composers care about cadences?
Cadences give music its shape. They divide it into phrases, create the question-and-answer patterns that make melodies memorable, and decide whether a moment feels resolved or restless. Learning to place cadences is one of the first steps to writing music that makes sense to the listener.
Where Gradus fits
In Gradus, students hear cadences before they name them, then write phrases that end with each kind. The curriculum treats cadences as the most concentrated moment of musical tension and release, the point where a phrase comes home.
Look up cadence in the Gradus dictionary, or see a sample lesson.