Re: [Harp-L] Does it have a name?

[Winslow Yerxa <winslowyerxa@xxxxxxxxx>]

Actually, it's not a cadence.
 
Establishing a tonal center is not the primary character of a cadence, although it's one of its three elements.
 
Cadence, for Latin 'cado" - to fall - refers to the ending of a phrase of music, and it usually marks an important point in the music, either the end of the tune, the end of a section, or sometimes just the end of the first and second phrases of a pair, in descending order of importance.
 
A cadence achieves finality through elements of melody, rhythm and harmony. And it can be subverted by any one of the three.
 
A false or trick canence makes you believe it's heading for the home chord but then goes somewhere else.
 
A half-cadence is incocnlusive, usually because the melody note at the end of the cadence is not the tonic note of the chord.
 
Rhythmically, you can have cadences that are met5rically accented or unaccented (these used to be called masculine and feminine cadences).
 
The Wikipedia article on cadences is thorough and accurate.
 
Winslow
 
 


Winslow Yerxa
Author, Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-0-470-33729-5
            Harmonica Basics For Dummies, ASIN B005KIYPFS
            Blues Harmonica For Dummies, ISBN 978-1-1182-5269-7
Resident Harmonica Expert, bluesharmonica.com
Instructor, Jazzschool for Music Study and Performance


________________________________
From: Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Friday, November 9, 2012 1:23 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Does it have a name?

Robert Hale wrote:
<All Along the Watchtower
<Turtles, Happy Together
<ELO, Evil Woman
<
<THESE CHORDS
<The first 3 chords could be played
<A minor, G, F
<or E-  D  C
<In numbers it's 6-  5  4
<
<What is the name for this sequence, other than citing one of these titles?

This sequence is one of the most common in the Police's repertoire too.  It's obviously a cadence of some sort.  A cadence is a harmonic formula that establishes a tonal center; examples include IV-V-I, iii-vi-ii-V-I, etc.  

This particular cadence seems to work going down or up. Ray Charles uses it in descending form for the vamp in his hit "Hit the Road Jack," where the last chord in the sequence before the tonic chord is the V (i.e. i/bVII/bVI/V).  Sting likes it going up to the tonic chord.

I don't know if there's a specific name for this cadence, but then I've never heard a IV-V-I cadence referred to by any other name, either.  

Thanks, RH

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