Cadences by ear

Recognise authentic, half, plagal and deceptive cadences.

Full stop and comma

A cadence is the harmonic turn at the end of a phrase. Like punctuation in speech, cadences show whether a thought has ended.

• Authentic (V → I): the dominant resolves into the tonic. It sounds like a full stop: final and firm.
• Half: the phrase stops on the dominant (V). It sounds like a comma or a question: you want it to go on.

An authentic cadence in C major: I – IV – V – I

A half cadence: I – IV – I – V

Practice: Cadence 1

Practice: Cadence 2

Practice: Cadence 5

A soft full stop and a trick

• Plagal (IV → I): the subdominant leads to the tonic. Softer than the authentic cadence, like the "amen" at the end of a hymn.
• Deceptive (V → vi): instead of the expected tonic comes the sixth degree, a minor triad. The ear expected a full stop and got a surprise turn.

A plagal cadence: I – V – IV – I

A deceptive cadence: I – IV – V – vi

Listen to the last chord. If it sounds stable, the cadence is authentic or plagal (they differ in the chord before it). If it sounds unstable, it is half (a tense major chord) or deceptive (an unexpected minor one).

Practice: Cadence 3

Practice: Cadence 4