Beyond V–I: 8 Piano Cadences That Change How Music Ends

Learn advanced piano cadences with Jason Zac of Nathaniel School of Music — tritone sub, backdoor, leading-tone diminished and more. This is Part 2 of the cadence series, where we move past the traditional cadences into resolutions that actually alter the sound of the scale and still bring you home peacefully. If you already know your authentic, plagal and 2-5-1 cadences, this is where things get colourful. We start with the leading-tone diminished cadence — a diminished 7th built on the major seventh degree that resolves to the tonic major, or deceptively to the relative minor (the 6 minor / da). Then we soften it with the leading-tone half-diminished, extend the jazz 2-5-1 into the 6-2-5-1 turnaround, and explore the mixolydian cadence down a tone for that R&B, soul and Michael Jackson colour. From there we play the backdoor cadence (bVII7 → I) heard in rock, grunge and gospel, the tritone substitution sliding chromatically into the tonic, the minor dominant for a Dorian feel, and the Neapolitan cadence Beethoven loved. We close with the "epic" bVI–bVII–I climb from film and video-game endings. This is for pianists who want to stop resolving 5-1 every time and hear how each cadence feels against a melody. Play along, train your ear, and tell us in the comments which one 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 🗂️ Ear Training - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrNNL05e9FT-GHvpugWvYgEuLAL4f01ZK 📋 Slash Chords - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrNNL05e9FT9m1V-clgZIS6fP1M_YaYLt 🎶 Mysterious Chord Connections - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrNNL05e9FT9bd7fnB4zMsgobcFj52N31 ============================= 🎓 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 ⏳ Chapter markers 00:00 - Performance 00:06 - Welcome Back to the Cadence Series 🎹 00:32 - Recap: The Traditional Cadences (Part 1) 00:53 - The Web App — Practise in Every Key 01:17 - Authentic Cadence 5-2-1 01:23 - Plagal Cadence 4-2-1 01:26 - Minor Plagal Cadence 01:32 - Three-Chord Option: 4-5-1 01:43 - The Mixolydian Cadence (bVII) 01:50 - Cinematic Option: Major to Minor iv 01:56 - The Gospel Cadence 5-7sus4 02:08 - Leading-Tone Diminished 7th Cadence 02:52 - Diminished 7th to the Relative Minor 03:24 - The Deceptive Cadence Explained 03:42 - Adding the Bass to the Diminished 04:00 - Leading-Tone Half-Diminished Cadence 🎼 04:30 - Revisiting the Jazz 2-5-1 04:41 - The Jazz Turnaround 6-2-5-1 05:17 - Ear Training with the Melody 👂 05:59 - The Mixolydian Cadence Down a Tone 06:19 - R&B, Soul & Michael Jackson Colour 06:35 - The Backdoor Cadence (bVII7 → I) 07:18 - Discovering the Tritone Substitution 07:33 - Building a Dominant on the Tritone 08:12 - Sliding Chromatically to the Tonic 08:32 - Tritone Sub — An Acquired Taste 08:38 - The Minor Dominant for a Dorian Feel 09:02 - Off the Scale and Back Again 09:14 - Covering the Tritone Sub for Stability 09:34 - One Final Cadence: The Epic Climb 10:01 - bVI – bVII – I Explained 10:26 - Queen, the Beatles & Rock Anthems 10:50 - Singing the Soprano Melody 11:11 - Choosing Your Scale & Inversion in the App 💰 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/ #PianoCadences #BackdoorCadence #MusicTheory