Music Theory Handbook

Harmony

Progressions, cadences and functional harmony.

Harmony

How Cadences Work: Authentic, Plagal, Half and Deceptive

How cadences work in tonal music: why the authentic cadence closes most strongly, and how half, plagal and deceptive cadences change an ending.

6 min read
Harmony

Roman Numerals Explained: Reading Chords in Any Key

Roman numeral analysis labels each chord by its scale degree and quality, so you can read progressions in any key and see how harmonic function works.

5 min read