A cadence is the pair of chords ending a phrase, and it decides whether the phrase sounds finished or not. The two common ones are the authentic cadence, V–I, a full stop, and the half cadence, ending on V.
Music comes in sentences, the way speech does, and the end of a sentence needs punctuation: a period, a comma, or an unexpected turn. Cadences are that punctuation — two chords whose motion tells the listener whether this sentence is over.
A G major triad (G–B–D), the dominant of C major. It hangs, and wants to move back.A C major triad (C–E–G), the tonic. Dominant moving to tonic is the period.
Name
Motion
Sounds like
Authentic
V → I
a period: fully closed
Plagal
IV → I
the "amen": a gentle landing
Half
anything → V
a comma: not done talking
Deceptive
V → vi
about to close, and then not
Identifying a cadence takes two questions: which chord the phrase lands on, and which one came before it. Landing on I is finished; landing on V is not. The first three cover almost everything in beginner repertoire, and the deceptive cadence is rare but unmistakable — it is the one that sounds like the ending it did not take.
Common questions
What is a cadence in music?
A short chord progression, usually two chords, that closes a phrase or a section. It works like punctuation, telling the listener whether the music has stopped for good or only paused.
What are the four main cadences?
Authentic (V–I), plagal (IV–I), half (anything to V) and deceptive (V–vi). The first closes completely, the plagal is a soft "amen", the half cadence leaves the phrase open, and the deceptive one swerves away from the expected tonic.
What type of cadence is V to I?
The authentic cadence, the strongest ending there is. In C major it is G to C, a dominant chord (often G7) resolving to the tonic.