Cadence refers to the natural rhythm and tempo of speech, as well as the chords and beats that signal the end of a piece of music. It can also refer to military chants, revolutions per minute while cycling, and walking or running pace.
The word cadence is used to describe different types of human activity including movement, language and music. One definition of cadence is the natural rhythm and tempo of speech, determined by its inherent alternation of stressed or unstressed syllables. Typically, a speaker’s voice drops or rises while reading certain parts of a sentence. For example, a speaker’s voice falls at the end of a sentence read aloud.
When reading the following sentence aloud, the speaker’s voice will inherently accentuate the syllable, falling at the end of the last syllable tree: “Then, he sat quietly under the tree.” Also, a speaker will accentuate the word girl, lowering the voice for the phrase that ran the race in the following sentence: “The girl, who ran the race, stopped short at the finish line.” An exclamation point at the end of a sentence is a great example of cadence. Applying this punctuation to the previous sentence, an exclamation mark changes the modulation of the speakers, bringing the voice to a higher pitch: “The girl, who ran in the race, stopped short at the finish line!”
Cadence can also refer to the chords and beats that signal the end of a piece of music, while a drum cadence indicates a series of beats played between one piece of music. Musical cadence can be further classified into perfect cadences, imperfect cadences, deceptive cadences, mezze cadenzas, and plagal cadences, all determined by their individual harmonic progressions and solutions.
A military cadence refers to a chant or song vocalized during a march or parade. The military has long used cadences as part of its oral tradition. These cadences are often practiced in the form of call and response during work, and correspond to the beats or steps of the physical activity that is taking place. For example, “Sound Off”, commonly called the Duckworth Chant and used with the march, is sung as follows:
Call: Sound off
Answer: 1 – 2
Call: Sound off
Answer: 3 – 4
Also, cadence can refer to movements such as revolutions per minute while pedaling. Lance Armstrong, the famous cyclist, for example, is known to keep his cadence high, at around 120 rpm, while recreational cyclists pedal and crank at around 70 rpm.
Another way cadence can measure movement is walking or running. The walker’s or runner’s pace can be measured in steps per minute and is used to determine fitness levels.
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