Songwriting 101: Laying Out The Chords (2)

Before you proceed, please make sure that you’ve already read the first part.

For simplicity we will use the Key of D Major in our examples. For a recap, here again is the pattern for our key:

The chords for this key are in the green boxes: D, Em, F#m, G, A, Bm and C#dim7 (used rarely).

The letters at the bottom of the boxes indicate the tonic chord (T), the subdominant chord (S), and the dominant chord (D). For the Key of D, the tonic chord is D, the subdominant chord is G, and the dominant chord is A.

Cadences: Punctuate Your Chord Sequences

Suppose that you’ve decided to use these chords for your stanza lines: D, G, Bm and F#m. Here are the chord for the first two  lines of your stanza:

D   G   Bm   F#m

D   G   Bm   F#m

Listen:

D-G-Bm-F#m (2x)

The chords are fine, but you might want to tweak the sequences a bit. 

Notice that each line begins with the tonic chord (D)  and ends with F#m.  Upon reaching the end of each line, the F#m chord is played side by side with the D chord on the next line. This chord transition doesn’t carry a sense of finality. It sounds like it leaves us hanging (although it can still be considered acceptable music).

It is desirable that the last chord in a sequence resolve smoothly into the first chord of the next sequence. For that to happen, there should be some kind of "signal" that tells us that the current chord sequence is ending and we are about to move to another chord sequence. That "signal" is called a cadence.

A cadence is a transition between two chords that gives a sense of finality or completion. It is used to punctuate a line, a stanza, a chorus or any other musical structure. It can also be used to signal a transition from one key to another key (this is called modulation, i’ll discuss this in a future post). There are many types of cadences. Here are two popular cadences:

Authentic cadence - also called perfect cadence or standard cadence. This is the transition from the dominant chord to the tonic chord. In our example (Key of D), the dominant chord is A and the tonic chord is D, so the authentic cadence is the transition from A to D. Listen to the sample below:

Authentic cadence - from A to D

 
Plagial cadence - also called amen cadence. This is the transition from the subdominant chord to the tonic chord. Again in our example, the subdominant chord is G and the tonic chord is D, so the plagial cadence is the transition from G to D. Listen to the sample below:

Plagial cadence - from G to D

 In our sample stanza lines, to use an authentic cadence, simply replace F#m with A. This way, the ending chord of each line is now A, which resolves nicely into the starting chord of the next line D, giving us the authentic cadence. The lines now become:

D   G   Bm   A

D   G   Bm   A

D-G-Bm-A (2x)

Similarly, to use a plagial cadence, simply replace F#m with G. The lines become:

D   G   Bm   G

D   G   Bm   G

D-G-Bm-G (2x)

In our sample stanza lines above, we used cadences to punctuate every line of the stanza. You may also use them to punctuate every other line of the stanza, such as the following (using authentic cadences as example; cadence chords are in blue):

D   A   Bm  F#m

G   D   A

D   A   G   Em

D   A   D   A …

Cadence every other line - the chords above: 

Again, you can also punctuate whole stanzas, choruses, and other musical structures.

Here are two other types of cadence:

Half cadence - also called imperfect cadence. It’s the transition from any chord to a dominant chord. In our case, it’s a transition from any chord to A. Example sequence with half cadence (cadence chords are in blue):

D   A   G   Em

A

Half cadence

Deceptive cadence - also called interrupted cadence. A transition from a dominant chord to any non-tonic chord. In our case, it’s the transition from A to any chord except D. Example sequence with deceptive cadence (cadence chords are in blue):

D  F#m  G   A

Em

Deceptive cadence

See you on Part Three!