Topmusicanswers
A Cadential 6/4 (pronounced Six Four) Chord Progression is a series of triads (chords) that are played to serve a purpose in the music. These chords sound nice together. They make sense musically. They create a nice "finished" effect.
What is a Cadential 64 chord?
What is the cadential 6 4 chord? The cadential 6 4 is a melodic and harmonic formula that often appears at the end of phrases in music of the common practice period. Typically, it consists of a decoration of the dominant chord by displacing both its third and fifth by a step above.
Why is the cadential 6 4 part of V rather than I?
Since it is not quite a tonic chord (although it has all of the notes of the I) nor a dominant, we label it as a Cadential 6/4 (analytical notation: Cad 6/4 or C 6/4) as it is used primarily at the cadence point and functions as a terminal pre-dominant (meaning that it normally progresses to the dominant).
