Year 11 - Music
Chords and cadences
Understanding melody and harmony
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Unit Summary
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Lesson Summary
You will learn to identify different chord types by ear and through notation, and can identify different cadences.
Key Notes
- Major triads, minor triads and extended chords can be identified by listening carefully to the feeling of each chord.
- The tonic chord (I) can be identified by the 'finished' feeling that it creates.
- The dominant (V) and subdominant (IV) chords can be identified by listening for the bass notes.
- We can identify cadences by the feeling they create - perfect and plagal feel finished, imperfect and interrupted don't.
- Listening for the bass notes helps to distinguish between perfect (V-I) and plagal (IV-I) cadences.
Vocabulary To Learn
- Tonic: chord I in a key
- Dominant: chord V in a key
- Subdominant: chord IV in a key
- Perfect cadence: a V-I progression at the end of a section of music; it feels resolved
- Imperfect cadence: when a section ends on chord V, feeling unfinished
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Chord IV and V sound the same, so plagal and perfect cadences sound the same.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
Major triads, minor triads and extended chords can be identified by listening carefully to the feeling of each chord. The tonic chord (I) can be identified by the 'finished' feeling that it creates.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'Tonic'
chord I in a key.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: Chord IV and V sound the same, so plagal and perfect cadences sound the same. Correction: They sound similar, but not identical. Picking out the bass note is the key - if you can hear that note, you can work out how it relates to the tonic, so can work out which chord (and cadence) you are listening to.
More Lessons In This Unit
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