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A '''cadence''' is a group of [[note]]s or [[chord]]s at the end of a phrase or piece of music that gives a feeling of pausing or finality.
A '''cadence''' is a group of [[note]]s or [[chord]]s at the end of a phrase or piece of [[music]] that gives a feeling of pausing or finality. Cadences may be thought as the punctuation in music, just like commas or full stops in a sentence.
The four most important cadences are:
=== Perfect cadence (Full stop) ===
This type of cadence is usually placed at the end of a piece or the end of a major section. This cadence consists of the dominant chord followed by the tonic chord.
=== Plagal cadence ===
This cadence may also be used to close a piece, but it is not as strong as the perfect cadence. The cadence is used to create a sense of agreement or "Amen". The cadence consists of the subdominant chord followed by the tonic chord.
=== Imperfect cadence (comma) ===
This type of cadence is frequently used during the course of a piece of music, since it acts like a "comma" and suggests that there is more to come. It reverses the procedure of the perfect cadence and consists of a tonic chord followed by a dominant chord.
=== Interrupted cadence ===
This cadence takes a great advantage of giving the listener the impression that it is going to be a perfect cadence, as it begins with a dominant chord; but it is "interrupted" by moving to the submediant chord rather than the tonic chord.
Cadences can also be divided into what beats they are placed over. If a cadence moves from a weak to a strong beat, it is said to be a masculine cadence. If a cadence moves from a strong to a weak beat, it is said to be a feminine cadence.
Cadences do not necessarily have to employ chords in their root position. When inversions are used, the cadence is said to be inverted.
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Music]]