Cadence Chords

Cadence chords are used to enhance and strengthen the arrival of a signpost chord. A cadence chord is triggered by a group marker in the Signpost Track; see Signpost Group Properties.

In the Signpost List, you can place up to two cadence chords in the C1 and C2 columns alongside a signpost chord. When a segment's chords are composed, and a signpost chord falls at a group marker that has the Precede Signpost with Cadence option selected in the Signpost Group Properties window, the cadence chords are inserted before the signpost chord.

A cadence usually begins before the expected arrival of the target signpost chord by roughly one measure, depending on the time signature. If two cadence chords precede a signpost in the Signpost list, each will typically be given a length of half a measure. When using a 3/4 time signature, cadence chords are sometimes given a full measure for each chord, or sometimes two chords are squeezed into a single measure, with the first chord on beats 1 and 2, and the second chord on beat 3.

One advantage of using cadence chords in a chordmap is that the time signatures of the chordmap and the segment do not have to match. If you create a chord path of two or three chords over an even measure, that chord path might not be selected unless its beginning and end signposts also fall on measure boundaries in the segment's time signature. However, if you create the same chord progression by using cadence chords, no chord path is necessary, and the signpost chord can be selected regardless of the time signature. For more information on the effect of the segment's time signature on the selection of chord paths, see Fixed and Variable Connection Lengths.