neirocca sound-first music theory

Harmonic Function, Cadence and Phrase

What is tested

You identify cadences — authentic, half, plagal and deceptive — and describe how phrases group into periods and sentences. Function is the organizing idea behind most of the free-response questions.

Common mistakes

Cadences get labeled from the last two roman numerals without checking the voicing. A perfect authentic cadence requires both chords in root position and the tonic in the soprano; anything else is imperfect authentic.

Practice with

The tool below checks your answer against the theory engine, so you get the same verdict a marker would.

Open the tool: Cadence Trainer →

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Related reading

All topics in this exam