🎼 13 Ways To End A Song (Twinkle Twinkle Cadences!)

Ever wonder how composers make an ending feel epic, jazzy, or cinematic? We break down authentic, plagal, mixolydian, backdoor, and tritone sub cadences using Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. This is Part 2 of our Thirds Exercise series — comment CADENCE if you want the app with every cadence in every key. Cadences are how music ends a phrase with intention, and in this practical lesson we harmonise one familiar tune — Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in Ab major — with almost every cadence you'll ever use. This is pure piano application, not just theory on paper. We start with the authentic cadence (V-I), then strengthen it using a dominant 7th for that 4-to-3 resolution. Next comes the plagal or Amen cadence (IV-I) heard in church hymns, the darker minor plagal cadence that borrows from Mixolydian b6 (also called the Charukesi scale/raga), and the stacked major-four-then-minor-four ending loved in cinematic writing and pop ballads. From there we build three- and four-chord cadences: the IV-V-I gospel ending, the gospel 7sus4 (double) suspension, the double dominant or Mixolydian cadence using a secondary dominant (think Elton John and the Beatles), and the diatonic jazz ii-V-I tried on Happy Birthday. This is for pianists and composers who want their endings to sound deliberate across pop, gospel, jazz and film. Play along in Ab, sing the bass roots as we do, and tell us in the comments which cadence surprised you most. 🏫 Courses, Workshops or Private lessons ➡️ https://forms.gle/fsbhFKSgJbZ5xZEr8 🎹 Learn Cadences in one place - https://cadence.nathanielschool.com/ ============================= 📹 Our Video Courses (Everything for Life Bundle) - https://learn-music.nathanielschool.com/ 🏡 Visit our Channel for more Tutorials & Performances - https://geni.us/NathanielYouTube ============================= ▶️ Related Videos & Playlists 📂 Cadences & Chord Progressions - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrNNL05e9FT_sKjWd1c7K_S55cZ15jAKI 📚 Jazz Lessons - Chords, Standards & Exercises - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrNNL05e9FT9ZCriHyNonJasffWWSCS_E 🗂️ Sweet Chords - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrNNL05e9FT-C4gmfMXJi6nHcKPL3acYy 📋 Indian Music Theory - Carnatic Ragas - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrNNL05e9FT-EsBVRojlfDQ078y6R438k 🎶 Play Great Songs on Piano - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrNNL05e9FT8y1l2P68dI_DHadRyMgt3N ============================= 🎓 Learn Music With Nathaniel School of Music & Jason Zac: https://nathanielschool.com 📚 All our YouTube lessons (1000+) categorised by skill level, topic & genre all in one place: https://free-music-lessons.nathanielschool.com 💰 Donate on PayPal: https://geni.us/DonatePayPal 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Follow me on Instagram: https://instagram.com/jasonzac 📞 Call +91 98454 65411 · 💬 WhatsApp chat +91 77604 56847 📧 Customised & Private Classes: music@nathanielschool.com 🎧 Listen to Jason Zac Music: https://riffs.jasonzacmusic.com/ #PianoLessons #PianoTutorial #MusicTheory #Cadences #ChordProgressions #GospelPiano