14.1: Phrases, Cadences, and Form Introduction
- Page ID
- 325230
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By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Describe basic form structures
- Determine by sound the organization of a form
- Identify cadence chord patterns
Phrases, Cadences, and Form
Phrases, cadences, and form in music is essentially similar to the way we speak and write sentences and paragraphs. Some statements use punctuation that continues the idea, and others use punctuation that concludes the idea. We might ask a question and receive an answer that repeats some of the material from the question. These concepts also show up in musical ideas through the use of motives, phrases, periods, sentences, and cadences.
Key Terms
- Cadence: the combination of triads at the end of a phrase that helps establish the tonal center of a piece or passage
- Inconclusive Cadence: a combination of triads that continues the musical momentum to the next phrase
- Conclusive Cadence: a combination of triads that conclude a musical phrase or idea.
- Perfect Authentic Cadence: a cadence made up of a dominant chord as the first chord and a tonic chord as the second chord. Both chords must be in root position and we must hear do in the top voice of the tonic chord
- Imperfect Authentic Cadence: a cadence made up of a dominant chord as the first chord and a tonic chord as the second chord. Chords can be in any inversion and have any chord tone in the top voice
- Half Cadence: a cadence made up of any chord as the first chord and the dominant chord as the second chord
- Plagal Cadence: a cadence made up of the subdominant (IV) as the first chord and tonic as the second chord. Do is present in both chords
- Deceptive Cadence: a cadence made up of the dominant chord as the first chord and a second chord that is not the tonic, but includes do
- Motive: a small musical idea that forms the basis of the phrase
- Phrase: a relatively independent musical idea that ends in a cadence
- Period: the organization of phrases and cadences where the first phrase ends in a weak cadence and the second phrase ends in a strong cadence
- Antecedent: the opening phrase, or the material that seems to be asking the question
- Consequent: the concluding phrase, or the material that answers the question posed in the antecedent phrase
- Repeated Phrase: the exact repeat of the phrase
- Parallel Period: phrases in a period structure where both phrases start with the same or similar material
- Contrasting Period: phrases in a period structure where the phrases start with different material
- Double Period: four phrases in two pairs when the first two phrases do not form a complete period due to the cadence structure


