What about the aeolian cadence makes it not a cadence? I know there are a small handful of conventional cadences. In a broader sense I think of them as harmonic punctuation at the end or midway through a musical sentence. I think of the aeolian cadence and the Andalusian cadence falling into this looser definition. I see both of those as valid musical punctuations and I think of them as “non-classical” cadences.
In classical terms, a cadence is supposed to involve the V chord resolving to I or vi. There are also plagal cadences, I guess. But bVII to I is not even really a thing in classical theory, much less a recognized cadence. In pop, of course, anything at all can act like a cadence if it falls in the right rhythmic position. But you will get pushback on that idea from a lot of music theory teachers out there.
That makes some sense to me. I’m in favor of broadening the definition to include chord sequences that act like cadences. When I try to explain cadences to people I’ll usually caveat what are considered classical cadences and also describe some of the non-classical “cadences” too. Sometimes I’ll refer to them as modern conventional cadences. I feel like it’s important to show the alternative examples that achieve a similar effect in other styles. Some are so prevalent that I think there should be a categorical way to refer to them, and to me, the term cadence seems appropriate. Not sure what else to call them. I guess I’m taking more of descriptive perspective rather than a prescriptive perspective. It’s good to hear how others define those boundaries.
I'm the kind of fiery-eyed radical who thinks that cadences outside the European canon are more about musical time than harmony or voice leading. Drew Nobile points to a place in the Talking Heads version of "Take Me To The River" where the I chord at the end of a section resolving to the I chord at the beginning of the next section acts like a cadence because of all the other musical factors at work, and I agree. You don't even need chords at all to have cadences, it's anywhere that feels like an idea comes to an end and another begins. You could have cadences defined entirely in terms of timbre if you wanted.
That’s pretty cool! I can get onboard with that. It reminds me of Asaf Peres’ concept of sonic functions. Where the sonic density and the changes in intensity are the primary drivers of the structure rather than harmonic tension and release. The same melodic and harmonic material can serve different roles depending on the arrangement of the other musical elements. I can nerd out over harmony all day, but it’s also great to see other musical factors taken more seriously in how they come into play.
Thanks for this primer. I appreciated Mark Richards' perspective on tonal ambiguity, because I had just been thinking about T.I.'s "Whatever You Like" (Dm, Bb, F, C), which my instinct is to interpret in F as a vi-IV-I-V "Axis" progression like Boston's "Peace of Mind," but which the internet (e.g. Wikipedia) generally thinks is a i-VI-III-VII progression in D minor.
What about the aeolian cadence makes it not a cadence? I know there are a small handful of conventional cadences. In a broader sense I think of them as harmonic punctuation at the end or midway through a musical sentence. I think of the aeolian cadence and the Andalusian cadence falling into this looser definition. I see both of those as valid musical punctuations and I think of them as “non-classical” cadences.
In classical terms, a cadence is supposed to involve the V chord resolving to I or vi. There are also plagal cadences, I guess. But bVII to I is not even really a thing in classical theory, much less a recognized cadence. In pop, of course, anything at all can act like a cadence if it falls in the right rhythmic position. But you will get pushback on that idea from a lot of music theory teachers out there.
That makes some sense to me. I’m in favor of broadening the definition to include chord sequences that act like cadences. When I try to explain cadences to people I’ll usually caveat what are considered classical cadences and also describe some of the non-classical “cadences” too. Sometimes I’ll refer to them as modern conventional cadences. I feel like it’s important to show the alternative examples that achieve a similar effect in other styles. Some are so prevalent that I think there should be a categorical way to refer to them, and to me, the term cadence seems appropriate. Not sure what else to call them. I guess I’m taking more of descriptive perspective rather than a prescriptive perspective. It’s good to hear how others define those boundaries.
I'm the kind of fiery-eyed radical who thinks that cadences outside the European canon are more about musical time than harmony or voice leading. Drew Nobile points to a place in the Talking Heads version of "Take Me To The River" where the I chord at the end of a section resolving to the I chord at the beginning of the next section acts like a cadence because of all the other musical factors at work, and I agree. You don't even need chords at all to have cadences, it's anywhere that feels like an idea comes to an end and another begins. You could have cadences defined entirely in terms of timbre if you wanted.
That’s pretty cool! I can get onboard with that. It reminds me of Asaf Peres’ concept of sonic functions. Where the sonic density and the changes in intensity are the primary drivers of the structure rather than harmonic tension and release. The same melodic and harmonic material can serve different roles depending on the arrangement of the other musical elements. I can nerd out over harmony all day, but it’s also great to see other musical factors taken more seriously in how they come into play.
Thanks for this primer. I appreciated Mark Richards' perspective on tonal ambiguity, because I had just been thinking about T.I.'s "Whatever You Like" (Dm, Bb, F, C), which my instinct is to interpret in F as a vi-IV-I-V "Axis" progression like Boston's "Peace of Mind," but which the internet (e.g. Wikipedia) generally thinks is a i-VI-III-VII progression in D minor.
It's perfectly ambiguous!