6
the cadential 4
Becoming citizens: the story of the cadential 6$
Four friends, Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass are all immigrating from Tonic-land to Dominant-land.
If they had all gained citizenship to V-land at the same time, it would have looked like this:
woohoo
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But instead two of them, let's say Soprano and Alto, decide to maintain their old citizenship for a couple of
beats - they are foreign visitors in V-land.
We're just not
ready yet
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After a couple beats as foreign visitors, Soprano and Alto decide to become citizens, resolving
down by step into V-land.
Maybe we should
have done this
sooner
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And that's a kitchy way to explain how the cadential 6$ works. Let's take a closer look...
© Jon Kulpa, 2015
2
& ˙˙
^1
^7
1^
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3
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2
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IV
V6$
5£
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No, it is not I6$
On the downbeat of m. 2, yes we have the notes of tonic, but don't be tempted to say it's I6$ .
Again, what we have here are two foreign visitors in Dominant-land.
How does it sound?
Doesn't it sound like we have arrived on dominant harmony on the downbeat of m. 2?
(wink, wink, nudge, nudge)
^
Note that 5 indeed is in the bass, and you have been told before that 6$ chords are only passing (or not what they seem!)
The story on page 1 is ridiculous, but it's meant to convey "nonharmonic tones" - notes that don't belong to the underlying
harmony; the cadential 6$ is root position dominant harmony - not tonic - with two nonharmonic tones.
^
^
In the cadential 6$ , 1 becomes a citizen of V when it moves to 7.
^
^
3 becomes a citizen of V when it moves to 2.
3
^
doubling: double the bass (5)
voice leading:
preparation (approaching the cadential 6$ )
^
The 4th above the bass of V6$ is a dissonance ( 1 ). Your compass tells you every dissonance must be prepared
as a common tone in the previous chord when possible. So, yes, you must do this.
^
The 6th above the bass of of V6$ is not a dissonance ( 3 ). It doesn't need to be prepared.
resolution
^
^
1 gains its citizenship by moving down by step to 7 (the fourth resolves down to a 3rd).
^
^
3 gains its citizenship by moving down by step to 2 (the 6th resolves down to the 5th).
ex.'s:
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V6$
5£
V6$
5£
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4
how to write the analysis
In some *cough - inferior* textbooks, you may see the cadential 6$ written as I6$ . But in this class, we won't let nonharmonic
tones define the underlying harmony / roman numerals.
If I am an American citizen visiting Japan, I do not get to say, hey this is America now! Likewise, the nonharmonic
tones do not get to change the roman numeral.
So, we will analyze the cadential 6$ as V6$
5£ . This correctly shows that the harmony is dominant; above the bass is a
nonharmonic 6th and a nonharmonic 4th; these then resolve respectively to a 5th and a 3rd above the bass.
At this point, you may be saying, well wait a minute, we've already seen V6$ (as a passing chord) and we definitely had all the
notes of dominant harmony, not tonic. Well - roman numeral notation isn't perfect.
Unfortunately, roman numeral analysis doesn't actually tell you what scale degree is in the bass. Contemplate this if
you want, but then go about life according to this summary:
Write the cadential 6$ as V6$ 5£ which shows how each nonharmonic tone resolves.
Write the passing V6$ we saw previously as plain old V6$ .
You can also add a 7th at the resolution; note the analysis:
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V6$
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5
rhythm
The candential 6$ is an accented dissonance. That means it begins on a strong beat (or part of a beat) and resolves on a
weaker beat (or weaker part of a beat).
4˙
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4
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4
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3
4
V6$
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ii6
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V6$
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5£
ii6
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5£
In triple meters, the second beat is stronger than the
third:
3
& 4 ˙˙
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4
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V6$
5£
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V6$
avoiding a strong cadence - "a trap door"
To avoid a strong cadence, the V6$ can somewhat deceptively move to a V4" .
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IV
V6$
4"
V6$
5£
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