# Cadences



## akhill jain (Apr 8, 2020)

Hey, could anyone please explain *prolonged cadences and augmented cadences?*
Thanks in advance 😊.


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## Consona (Apr 8, 2020)

Hi, I just want to say that I've never heard about these. 

After some googling I've learned that _"Prolongations are the expansion of a given harmonic area in musical space". _
Simply put, instead of going V → I (or however you want to end your piece), you put more chords into your composition before that final cadence (or however you want to end your piece). (You just prolongate the piece before ending it.) There's, of course, a lot of variations and ways to do it.
Check out this: http://academic.udayton.edu/PhillipMagnuson/soundpatterns/strucanalysis/

I didn't find anything about the augmented cadences. My guess is, they have something to do with augmented chords? Maybe?  Since I didn't see that exact phrase anywhere, which is weird and the only other musical usage of augmented I know is with augmented chords. Sorry, no help there.


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## youngpokie (Apr 8, 2020)

Basic formula (although your terms sound very archaic to me):

Cadence proper: V - I

Augmented cadence: I - IV - V - I

Prolonged cadence: I - IV - I 6/4 - V - I


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## akhill jain (Apr 8, 2020)

Consona said:


> Hi, I just want to say that I've never heard about these.
> 
> After some googling I've learned that _"Prolongations are the expansion of a given harmonic area in musical space". _
> Simply put, instead of going V → I (or however you want to end your piece), you put more chords into your composition before that final cadence (or however you want to end your piece). (You just prolongate the piece before ending it.) There's, of course, a lot of variations and ways to do it.
> ...


Hey, thank you so much for putting in the time and effort to search about these to help me out. I actually came across these concepts in Tchaikovsky's practical guide to harmony, but wasn't too sure about the meaning of the same. Thanks again 😊


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