Music Video Lesson: What is a Plagal Cadence?

Hi, this is Robert Estrin at virtualsheetmusic.com and livingpianos.com. The subject today is, what is a plagal cadence. Have you ever heard that term before? The plagal cadence. The plagal cadence, simply put, is a 4 chord to a 1 chord at the end of a piece. Spoiler alert, I gave it all away. Well, why is that so significant? Well usually the end of a piece is a 5 chord to a 1 chord, or a 5, 7 chord, demonstrate in a classic authentic cadence. So the last two chords: 5, 7, 1. Now the plagal cadence is going to end with a 4 to a 1, so, I'm going to play the same cadence, then I'm going to add the plagal cadence at the very end, and you'll know it's familiar as soon as you hear it, and then I'll explain where you've heard it a million times before. You guessed it, amen, isn't it? The "amen" is a plagal cadence. So it can add a different element to the end of a piece of music, a certain stateliness that you don't get with a 5, 7 to 1 cadence. So that is simply put, what a plagal cadence is, hope you've enjoyed that. Once again, Robert Estrin here at virtualsheetmusic.com and livingpianos.com.

Automatic video-to-text transcription by DaDaScribe.com

Thank you for your comment, question or request!

Comment/Question deleted successfully.

Post a comment, question or special request:

Comments or questions must be between 3 and 10,000 characters long.

You may: Login  or  

Otherwise, fill out the form below to post your comment:

Add your name below:


Add your email below: (to receive replies, will not be displayed or shared)


For verification purposes, please enter the word MUSIC in the field below

---