Different types of cadences

Perfect and Plagal cadences work like full stops

• A perfect cadence makes a piece of music feel finished or complete
• It goes from Chord V to Chord 1-in C major that's a G chord to a C chord
• A perfect cadence ends twinkle twinkle little star. Listen to it and listen very carfully to the last bar
• A plagal cadence sounds really different from a perfect cadence but it has a similar effect-it makes a piece of music sound finished
• A plagal cadence in C major is a F chord (IV) to a C chord (I). PLay it and see what it sounds like. The plagal cadence gets used at the end of lots of hymns-it's sometimes called the 'Amen' cadence

Imperfect and Interrupted cadences are like commas

• Imperfect and interrupted cadences are used to end phrasaes but not at the end of a piece. They work like commas-they feel like a resting point but not a ending
• An imperfect cadence most commonly goes from chord I, II, IV to V. Here's one going from chord I to chord V at the end of the third line if 'Twinkle, Twinkle'
• In an interrupted cadence chord V can o to any chord except I. You expect it to go to chord I-so it sounds "interrupted". In C major an interrupted cadence may go from a G chord (V) to an A minor chord (VI)