164 / 18210 · Module 6 — Cadences, Phrase Structure, Harmonic Rhythm, and Hearing Musical “Punctuation”← prev⊞ allnext →
6.1Music has punctuation
Think of spoken language.
A sentence can end with:
- a period,
- a comma,
- a question mark,
- a surprise,
- or an unfinished thought.
Harmony does similar things.
The main “punctuation marks” are cadences.
A cadence is a harmonic gesture at the end of a phrase or section.
The four most useful for us are:
- authentic cadence
- half cadence
- plagal cadence
- deceptive cadence