Music Theory
Cadences - Chapter 5
Definitions
 Phrase

A substantial musical thought,
which ends with a punctuation
called a cadence
Cadence

A harmonic cadence is a
musical punctuation that closes
a phrase or section of music
Cadence Types

PAC - Perfect authentic
cadence
 Strongest Cadence
 V-I, or V-i
 Both
chords are in root position
 Tonic is the highest sounding
 pitch on the last chord
Cadence Types

IAC - Imperfect authentic cadence
 Strong Cadence
 V-I/i, vii-I/i

Both chords are NOT in
 root position
 Tonic is NOT the highest
 sounding pitch on the last chord
Cadence Types

Half - Half cadence
 Like a comma,
 The final chord is V
 Phrygian
Half Cadence iv to V in minor
Cadence Types

DEC - Deceptive
 Obvsiously - it doesn’t go
where you expect
 V to anything other than I
Cadence Types
 Plagal
- Plagal Cadence
 “Amen” Cadence
 IV to I, iv to i
 Infrequently
ii6 to I
Cadence Types
 Rhythmic
Cadence
 Creating a punctuation with only
rhythm
 Phrases often incorporate them,
and they tend to fit with the
harmonic cadence type
-Non Harmonic Tones (NHT’s) 
Tones that sound along with a chord but are
not chord tones

NHT’s create dissonance - usually 2nd’s, 4th’s
and 7th’s

The dissonance is calculated against the lowest
sounding tone of the chord, regardless of the
other pitches present (exception if NHT occurs in
the lowest sounding voice)
-Non Harmonic Tones (NHT’s) -
 Most
NHT’s involve 3 pitches:
 1. Preceding Chord Tone
 2. NHT
 3. Following Chord Tone
 This relationship is often defined as
(1)preparation, (2)dissonance, (3)resolution
-Non Harmonic Tones (NHT’s) -
NHT’s are distinguished by determining
where the dissonance occurs

Unaccented NHT’s - dissonance occurs “off” the beat
(weaker)

Accented NHT’s - dissonance occurs “on” the beat
(stronger)

To indentify NHT’s we will place parenthesis around the
NHT and write the abreviation for the NHT above or
below the chord where it occurs
Unaccented NHT’s


Passing Tone - pt
Moving from one chord tone in
stepwise motion, either
ascending or descending to a
NHT follwed by stepwise
motion in the same direction to
a different chord tone

Unaccented pt:
 Occurs in any voice
 Stepwise motion
 Ascending or
descending
Unaccented NHT’s


Neighbor tone - nt
Moving from one chord tone in
stepwise motion either
ascending or descending to a
NHT and then back to the
same chord tone

Unaccented nt:
 Occurs in any voice
 Stepwise motion
 Ascending or
descending
Unaccented NHT’s


Escape Tone - et
Moving from one chord
tone in stepwise motion
ascending to a NHT
followed by a descending
3rd to a chord tone




Unaccented et:
Occurs in Soprano voice
Stepwise motion followed
by skip down (3rd)
ALWAYS Unaccented
Unaccented NHT’s


Anticipation - ant
Moving from one chord tone in
stepwise motion, either
ascending or descending to a
NHT follwed by the same tone
(NHT) which occurs as part of
the next chord

Unaccented ant:
 Occurs in any voice,
usually Soprano
 Stepwise motion
 Ascending or descending
 Must be included in the
next chord
 ALWAYS Unaccented
Accented NHT’s


Passing Tone - pt
Moving from one chord tone in
stepwise motion, either
ascending or descending to a
NHT follwed by stepwise
motion in the same direction to
a different chord tone





accented pt:
Occurs in any voice
Stepwise motion
Ascending or descending
Occurs on the beat
Accented NHT’s


Neighbor tone - nt
Moving from one chord tone in
stepwise motion either
ascending or descending to a
NHT and then back to the
same chord tone





Accented nt:
Occurs in any voice
Stepwise motion
Ascending or descending
Occurs on the beat
Accented NHT’s


Suspension - sus
Moving from a chord tone to
the same tone as a NHT and
then resolving by descending
in stepwise motion to a chord
tone




Accented sus:
Occurs in any voice
3 parts-preparation,
suspension, resolution
ALWAYS Accented
Accented NHT’s


Retardation - ret
Moving from a chord tone to
the same tone as a NHT and
then resolving by ascending in
stepwise motion to a chord
tone




Accented ret:
Usually occurs in
Soprano
3 parts-preparation,
retardation, resolution
ALWAYS Accented
Accented NHT’s


Appoggiatura
Moving from a chord tone by a
skip to a NHT and then
resolving in stepwise motion in
the opposite direction to a
chord tone



Accented app:
Usually occurs in
Soprano
Usually Accented
Other NHT’s

Successive Passing
Tones
 Two passing tones
filling in the space of
a fourth
 may be accented or
unaccented

Changing Tones - ct
 Two successive
NHT’s - the first leads
by step from a chord
tone, skips to a
second NHT and then
leads back by
stepwise motion to a
chord tone
 Usually unaccented
Other NHT’s






Pedal Tone - ped
A held or repeated note that alternates
between dissonance (NHT) and consonance
Usually in the bass
Most often the chords above change to create
the dissonance
If it occurs above the other voices it is called an
inverted pedal tone
May be either accented or unaccented
Summary
Type
pt
nt
et
app
sus
ret
ant
ped
ct
Approach
Step
Step
Step
Skip
Same
Same
Departure
Step
Step
Skip
Step
Step down
Step up
Prefer step Same
NA
NA
Step
Step
Voice
Any
Any
Soprano
Us. Sop.
Any
Us. Sop.
Us. Sop.
Us. Bass
Any
>, not >
either
either
Not >
>
>
>
Not >
Both
Us.Not >
Homework!!!
 Textbook
- pg. 103-107, 5.2-5.4 5.4 only
nos.1 and 2
 DUE
WED!!!