Rethinking Guitar 3 – Ending Your Songs – Guest Post

The following is a guest post by Kevin Ian Common. If you are interested in guest posting, please contact me!

Hello Everyone!

Life has been pretty busy as of late, and I have also been trying to find a way to use video in these columns, as it will be easier for everyone to understand my chord charts if I put them to practical use. Until then, here is a short and sweet column about ending songs… or “cadence.”

A cadence is defined as a harmonic sequence (at least two chords) that closes a musical phrase, section, or piece of music. Songs that end without a fade out have some kind of cadence. I’m going to define the most used or identifiable forms of cadences and give you simple chord examples (no charts, just chord names).

I will also simplify these as best I can, so you can utilize them right away. Mind you, some music theory is required to understand some of these progressions, but logical reasoning and your ear can help you out too… it just takes a little longer 🙂

Authentic Cadence:

Most pieces of music end in an Authentic Cadence. It is defined as IV V I, or, in the key of C:

F G C

In the key of Cm:

Fm G7 Cm

Half Cadence:

Most songs that have different sections use these without even knowing it. They are considered “open” or “imperfect” because they don’t really end the song, they lead to something else. In the key of C, they end in V (G):

C Dm G, C G, or D G

In the key of C, a D is a Secondary Dominant. You can Google this term, but it basically means the borrowing of other tones from other keys to make the main key stronger. You use D to make G stronger so when it resolves to C, it’s even stronger still!

In the key of Cm:

Cm Ddim G, Cm G

To make a Half Cadence make more sense, let’s take a basic progression:

Am F C G for the verses. Let’s say your chorus is: C F G C. The G in the first progression acts as a Half Cadence when it leads to C.

Plagal Cadence:

This is a now-disputed type of cadence, but I will still include it here. It is also known as the “Amen Cadence.” It is defined as IV I. In the key of C:

C F C

In the key of Cm:

Cm Fm Cm

Deceptive Cadence:

This cadence is defined as V (G in the key of C) resolving to any other chord, most likely IV, vi, or ii. It is known as deceptive because it deceives the listener when it ends. In the key of C (it is most effective when writing in major keys):

C F G Am, C F G Dm, C F G F

Picardy Third:

This is the most basic kind of manipulation at the end of a song. Whatever key your song is in, change the last chord, whether from major to minor, or minor to major. In the key of C:

C F G Cm

In the key of Cm:

Cm Fm G7 C

Thanks again! My life has slowed down a bit for the next few weeks, so I hope to have another one to you soon!

– Kevin Ian Common

thecommonmenmusic@nullgmail.com

Kevin Ian Common is a multi-instrumentalist who has been involved with live music for a little over a decade. He studied music theory and composition at a local university. He has played guitar, bass, and drums for various bands. He is currently the vocalist/guitarist for The Common Men, a post-punk band from Northern California. You can check them out on Myspace, Facebook, or Twitter. Their main page is on Myspace: www.myspace.com/thecommonmen