Mastering Cadences: Four Chord Progressions to End Your Songs in Style

As musicians, we strive to create music that resonates with our audience. One of the key elements to achieve this is through mastering cadences – a musical technique used to end a song in style. In this article, we'll explore four chord progressions that can be used to bring your songs to a majestic close.

Before diving into the chord progressions, let's take a closer look at what makes cadences so important. A cadence is a chord progression that resolves a piece of music to its tonic or root note, creating a sense of finality and completion. This technique works particularly well when accompanied by a vocalist who can follow your chords with their voice.

In the hymn we'll be using as an example throughout this tutorial, the cadences showcase particularly well on the tonic/root note. By playing these chord progressions for two beats each in 4/4 time, you'll get a feel for the song's original harmony and develop a sense of timing and rhythm.

One of the key benefits of learning cadences is that they can add complexity and interest to your chord progressions, making them more engaging for listeners. This technique is especially useful when accompanying a great singer who can follow intricate changes in harmony with their voice.

As you progress from beginner to intermediate and advanced levels of piano playing, it's essential to learn what I call 'temporary modulation' – the art of temporarily moving away from the song's original key by adding cool and complex endings to your chord progressions. This will extend the range of your harmony and add variety to your sound.

In today's tutorial, we'll explore four chord progressions that can be used to end a song in style. These cadences may seem advanced for beginners, but stick around – the techniques and terminology will soon become relevant to you as you develop your skills.

Whether you're an experienced musician or just starting out, mastering cadences is an essential part of developing your musical skills. By incorporating these chord progressions into your practice routine, you'll be able to add a new level of sophistication and depth to your playing.

So, let's get started! With the example hymn in mind, we'll work through each of these four chord progressions and explore how they can be used to create a majestic ending to your songs.

Cadences aural training