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I was perusing my Kostka/Payne book for something when I noticed this chart which I either never paid attention to or forgot :-)

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I understand its meaning, but it leads to some interesting possibilities that I never really thought of. Cadences that would seem to be at home in a 'modal' style, like... 

Plagal: ii | I
Half  : I  | IV
Half  : I  | ii

Is this chart generally accepted?

I thought a half cadence must end on a V and that a plagal cadence was defined by the 'first chord' being IV or iv.

Andy
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Michael Curtis
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    Thousands of theorists teach using the Kostka/Payne. Those thousands of theorists hate that they teach with the Kostka/Payne. – Richard Jan 10 '19 at 18:09
  • This is not completely consistent with other classical texts I've seen. –  Jan 10 '19 at 18:22
  • @Richard I’m one of the professors that teaches from it, but I just don’t get the hate that so many have for it. I’d probably prefer to use Aldwell/Schachter, and I was definitely impressed with Clen/Marv when I taught at a school that uses it, but I just don’t think K/P is that bad. Oh well, this chart is definitely not their most shining hour. – Pat Muchmore Jan 10 '19 at 20:38
  • Any opinions on Elie Siegmeister's Harmony and Melody? That two volume textbook and Piston's Counterpoint are the two textbooks I like best in my modest collection. I don't count Gjerdingen and Caplin, those don't seem like textbooks to me. (You probably know I'm not a teacher.) – Michael Curtis Jan 10 '19 at 20:47
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    Would bII7-I count as an authentic cadence, then? It's rad tritone substitution, but.... – Dekkadeci Jan 11 '19 at 00:58
  • @Dekkadeci - Absolutely Yes. I've gone through Db7(no5)-C, Db7(b5)-C, and Db7-C cadences. –  Jul 14 '19 at 02:45
  • @MichaelCurtis - I'm not sure exactly... because if you say yes, this seemingly comes to a problem. –  Jul 14 '19 at 03:53

1 Answers1

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Yeah, that chart only makes sense when you take in the rest of the context. I think they’re just trying to point to the primary distinction between conclusive and progressive cadences, with a side issue about presence of a leading tone.

I don’t know anyone, including K&P, that regularly talk about half cadences ending on anything other than V. One could maybe make an argument for vii°, but you’d have to do a lot of fancy footwork to claim that a phrase can “cadence” on a dissonant harmony. However, there is at least one other kind of Plagal cadence discussed by K&P using ii instead of IV: ii6/5 – I. Of course, as they point out themselves, this could very easily be interpreted as a IVadd6 instead of ii6/5, and that’s probably a less dubious interpretation.

So I don’t think it’s a great chart, especially out of context.

Pat Muchmore
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