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

[Richard Hunter <turtlehill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Winslow Yerxa wrote:
<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.
...
<The Wikipedia article on cadences is thorough and accurate.
 
Okay, here's what Wikipedia says:
<A harmonic cadence is a progression of (at least) two chords that concludes a phrase, section, or <piece of music.[2} A rhythmic cadence is...
<While cadences are usually classified by specific chord or melodic progressions, the use of such <progressions does not necessarily constitute a cadenceâthere must be a sense of closure, as at the <end of a phrase. Harmonic rhythm plays an important part in determining where a cadence occurs.

And note these two sentences from the Wikipedia article:
<Cadences are the main method used in tonal music to create the sense that one pitch is the tonic or central pitch of a passage or piece.[1] Edward Lowinsky thought that the cadence was the "cradle of tonality."[5]

I don't think there's really a whole lot of difference between that and what I wrote: "A cadence is a harmonic formula that establishes a tonal center; examples include IV-V-I, iii-vi-ii-V-I, etc.", unless you think "tonal center" and "tonic or central pitch of a passage or piece" are fundamentally different things.
  
As per Wikipedia's lengthy discussion, I agree that I was not comprehensive in my description of cadences, but it's inaccurate to say that "Actually, it's not a cadence."  Whatever else those changes are, they're directional.  That's why rockers use them so often.  And cadences, harmonic or otherwise, are directional.  They point to something.    

And finally, we still don't have an answer to the original question: is there a specific name for that set of changes?

Regards, Richard Hunter
    


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