Appendix VI - Lesson 22

The Cadence Breaks

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Appendix VI - Lesson 22 TEF's

Notes to Appendix VI - Lesson 22

In Lesson 22, Mickey talks about the Cadence Breaks as if they were a new musical idea, of which he gave us a sneak preview in Lesson 12.  Actually, we first talked about Cadence Breaks in Mickey's Volume 1 Lesson 3, as "turn-arounds".  A turn-around is a cadence and a cadence is a turn-around.  So with that in mind, think of this lesson as review from a different point of view.  Or, as one of Baseball's most beloved players, Yogi Berra, used to say:  "Deja vu, all over again."

Tunes are divided into parts.  Often these parts repeat.  We use a turn-around to go from the end of one part to the beginning of the next.  Sometimes parts begin with the tonic and end with the tonic, and we would have several measures of tonic harmony.  We can use a I -V turn-around to end a part (like you've heard thousands of times in measures 11 and 12 of 12-bar Blues) and progress back to tonic harmony for the next.

So much for review of Cadences or turn-arounds.  What this lesson is REALLY about is using symmetric cycles in cadences.  Instead of 4 to 8 beats of chunk-chunk tonic, we use a symmetric cycle to give color and add interest.

About the Exercises:  Mickey's given us two exercises that really are reviews and analysis of cadences from Lesson 11's Exercise 25 and 26.

  1. Exercise 54 uses three measures from Exercise 25.  In Part a., Mickey inserts an ascending C6/9 chord symmetric cycle.  We end the cadence with a tonic ready for the next part.  Note that in the first measure, there are some errors in the 2nd and 4th chords.  I've corrected this to what I believe Mickey intended to write.  In Part b., Mickey inserts a descending CMaj7 symmetric cycle.  And again, we end the cadence with a tonic ready for the next part.

  2. Exercise 55 (which by the way is not marked as such on the exercise) uses three measures from Exercise 26.  In Part a., Mickey inserts a G7+5 descending symmetric cycle so that we are ending the cadence with a V chord.  Part b. has an ascending augmented triad cycle that ends with a G7+5 chord, also V harmony.

In Summary:  Mickey tells us in summary that we can use all of our musical knowledge to make cadence breaks interesting.  My personal favorite is to insert a blues phrase, either single note or chords.  Listen to the grandfather of Jazz, Louis Armstrong to hear how he does that.  In the next two lessons we'll talk about "pedal point" and how to use it.  Remember it's all about keeping the music interesting.

Let's "turn around" that fun!!