Phrasing the Tune

Now consider the hymn TUNE independent of the text. A musical phrase consists of a complete musical thought. Each musical thought should flow from the beginning, through the middle, and should conclude with a point of arrival, or “cadence.” The hymn tune to the right has two nearly identical four-measure phrases (green highlights), each of which ends in a cadence. In addition, each of these phrases contains two short two-measure [half-]phrases (outlined in purple), separated by another cadence.

Not all cadences are equal in strength or finality. In this hymn, the stronger cadences occur at structurally more important points--at the end of each four-measure phrase. These cadences are made up of more powerful chord progressions. The two strongest cadences to the right are marked by the LARGER “V” symbol, while the weaker ones are marked by the SMALLER symbol.