← Real Sight Reader · Chromatic harmony series

How every piece in the corpus ends

Every piece has to land somewhere. We took the last two chords of every piece in our corpus — the resolution the whole piece has been leaning toward — and counted what actually happens at the double bar. 76 endings, and the most common one, V7 → I, accounts for only 7 of them: the final cadence is more varied than the textbook "V7 → I" would suggest.

Practice with the pieces that use it →

The census

The last two chords of every piece in the corpus, ranked by frequency:

final move	count
V7 → I	7
I → I	4
i → i	3
V → I	3
I → i	2
I7 → I	2
V7 → i	2
V7 (B) → I	2
i7 (C#) → I	2
i → I	1
I (G#) → i	1
i7 → i	1
ii → I	1
I (B) → I	1
V → v	1
I (F) → I	1
i (E) → i (E)	1
iii (D) → I	1
vi → I	1
v7 → i	1
v (F) → iii (D)	1
I7 (C) → i	1
viiø7 (F) → I	1
V7 (Bb) → I	1
III+7 (E) → i7 (E)	1
VI7 (F#) → i	1
V → I7 (B)	1
ii7 (Ab) → vi7 (Eb)	1
vi (C) → i	1
iio → i	1
V7/iv → iiø7 (C)	1
I7 (G#) → I	1
bVI+ (Eb) → I	1
#viio7 (F) → I	1
IV7 (G#) → I	1
iv7 → I7	1
V7 (G) → IV7 (F)	1
vi7 (A#) → I7	1
V7 (A) → I	1
ii7 (G) → iv7 (G)	1
iiø7 (C#) → I	1
iii7 (G#) → I7 (E)	1
iiø7 (A) → i	1
V7/IV → I	1
V7/iv (F) → VI+7 (Bb)	1
iii7 (F#) → I	1
VI (Bb) → III	1
i7 (G#) → i	1
vi7 (A) → I	1
#viio (E) → I	1
I (D) → i	1
V7 (G#) → i7	1
I7 (C#) → I	1
ii → viiø7/V (B)	1
I → IV	1
i7 (E) → IV	1
III → vi	1
#iv → V7 (E)	1

One ending stands out on its own: i → I — a piece in a minor key that resolves its very last chord to major. That's the Picardy third, the old convention of ending a minor piece on an unexpectedly bright final chord, and our corpus has exactly 1 of them.

Every ending in the corpus

Each link opens the piece in the harmony player, scrolled to the close — the final chord is labeled above the staff.

Air Napolitain "Santa Lucia" C. Czerny bar 25: I (B) → I
Amazing Grace Traditional bar 17: i → i
Arabesque No. 1 C. Debussy bar 107: V → v
Arabesque No. 2 C. Debussy bar 110: I → i
Arabesque, Op. 100 No. 2 F. Burgmüller bar 33: i → i
Auld Lang Syne Traditional bar 20: V → I
Canon in D J. Pachelbel bar 102: I7 → I
Clair de Lune C. Debussy bar 72: I (F) → I
Clair de Lune (Easy Arrangement) C. Debussy bar 42: i (E) → i (E)
Für Elise L. v. Beethoven bar 105: V7 → i
Gymnopédie No. 1 E. Satie bar 78: v7 → i
Humoresque No. 7 A. Dvořák bar 64: iii (D) → I
Invention No. 1 in C, BWV 772 J. S. Bach bar 23: i → I
Liebestraum No. 3 F. Liszt bar 84: I7 → I
Londonderry Air (Danny Boy) Traditional bar 17: ii7 (Ab) → vi7 (Eb)
Lullaby (Wiegenlied) J. Brahms bar 17: V7 → I
Melody (Album for the Young, Op. 68 No. 1) R. Schumann bar 20: viiø7 (F) → I
Minuet in C (Notebook for Wolfgang) L. Mozart bar 16: v (F) → iii (D)
Minuet in F, K. 2 W. A. Mozart bar 24: I7 (C) → i
Moonlight Sonata, 1st Movement L. v. Beethoven bar 69: i → i
Morning Mood (Peer Gynt) E. Grieg bar 38: vi → I
Nocturne in C-sharp minor (Op. posth.) F. Chopin bar 65: I (G#) → i
Nocturne in E♭, Op. 9 No. 2 F. Chopin bar 34: I → I
Ode to Joy L. v. Beethoven bar 17: I → i
Prelude 1 in C major (BWV 846) J. S. Bach bar 35: V7 (B) → I
Prelude 10 in E minor (BWV 855) J. S. Bach bar 41: iv7 → I7
Prelude 11 in F major (BWV 856) J. S. Bach bar 18: V7 (G) → IV7 (F)
Prelude 12 in F minor (BWV 857) J. S. Bach bar 22: V7 → I
Prelude 12 in F minor (BWV 881) J. S. Bach bar 70: V7 → i
Prelude 13 in F-sharp major (BWV 858) J. S. Bach bar 30: vi7 (A#) → I7
Prelude 13 in F-sharp major (BWV 882) J. S. Bach bar 75: I7 (C#) → I
Prelude 14 in F-sharp minor (BWV 859) J. S. Bach bar 24: i7 (C#) → I
Prelude 14 in F-sharp minor (BWV 883) J. S. Bach bar 43: i7 (C#) → I
Prelude 15 in G major (BWV 860) J. S. Bach bar 19: V7 (A) → I
Prelude 15 in G major (BWV 884) J. S. Bach bar 48: ii → viiø7/V (B)
Prelude 16 in G minor (BWV 861) J. S. Bach bar 19: ii7 (G) → iv7 (G)
Prelude 17 in A-flat major (BWV 862) J. S. Bach bar 44: V7 → I
Prelude 18 in G-sharp minor (BWV 863) J. S. Bach bar 29: iiø7 (C#) → I
Prelude 18 in G-sharp minor (BWV 887) J. S. Bach bar 45: I → IV
Prelude 19 in A major (BWV 864) J. S. Bach bar 24: iii7 (G#) → I7 (E)
Prelude 2 in C minor (BWV 847) J. S. Bach bar 38: V7/iv → iiø7 (C)
Prelude 2 in C minor (BWV 871) J. S. Bach bar 12: VI (Bb) → III
Prelude 20 in A minor (BWV 865) J. S. Bach bar 28: iiø7 (A) → i
Prelude 20 in A minor (BWV 889) J. S. Bach bar 32: i7 (E) → IV
Prelude 21 in B-flat major (BWV 866) J. S. Bach bar 20: V7/IV → I
Prelude 22 in B-flat minor (BWV 867) J. S. Bach bar 24: V7/iv (F) → VI+7 (Bb)
Prelude 23 in B major (BWV 868) J. S. Bach bar 19: iii7 (F#) → I
Prelude 23 in B major (BWV 892) J. S. Bach bar 24: III → vi
Prelude 24 in B minor (BWV 893) J. S. Bach bar 62: #iv → V7 (E)
Prelude 3 in C-sharp major (BWV 848) J. S. Bach bar 104: I7 (G#) → I
Prelude 4 in C-sharp minor (BWV 873) J. S. Bach bar 62: i7 (G#) → i
Prelude 5 in D major (BWV 850) J. S. Bach bar 35: V7 → I
Prelude 5 in D major (BWV 874) J. S. Bach bar 56: vi7 (A) → I
Prelude 6 in D minor (BWV 851) J. S. Bach bar 26: V7 → I
Prelude 6 in D minor (BWV 875) J. S. Bach bar 61: #viio (E) → I
Prelude 7 in E-flat major (BWV 852) J. S. Bach bar 70: bVI+ (Eb) → I
Prelude 7 in E-flat major (BWV 876) J. S. Bach bar 71: I (D) → i
Prelude 8 in D-sharp minor (BWV 877) J. S. Bach bar 36: V7 (G#) → i7
Prelude 8 in E-flat minor (BWV 853) J. S. Bach bar 40: #viio7 (F) → I
Prelude 9 in E major (BWV 854) J. S. Bach bar 24: IV7 (G#) → I
Prelude in C minor, Op. 28 No. 20 F. Chopin bar 13: i7 → i
Prelude No. 1 in C, BWV 846 (WTC I) J. S. Bach bar 35: V7 (B) → I
Soldiers' March (Album for the Young, Op. 68 No. 2) R. Schumann bar 32: V → I
Sonata in C, K. 545 W. A. Mozart bar 73: V7 → I
Sonata No. 11, K. 331 — Alla Turca W. A. Mozart bar 127: I → I
Sonatina in C, Op. 36 No. 1 M. Clementi bar 38: ii → I
Sonatina in G, Anh. 5 No. 1 L. v. Beethoven bar 34: I → I
Swan Lake Theme P. I. Tchaikovsky bar 27: VI7 (F#) → i
The Entertainer S. Joplin bar 92: I → I
The Irish Rover Traditional bar 20: V → I7 (B)
The Little Hunter's Song (Album for the Young, Op. 68 No. 7) R. Schumann bar 29: V → I
The Merry Peasant (Album for the Young, Op. 68 No. 10) R. Schumann bar 20: V7 (Bb) → I
The Wild Horseman (Album for the Young, Op. 68 No. 8) R. Schumann bar 24: III+7 (E) → i7 (E)
Waltz in A minor, B. 150 F. Chopin bar 56: iio → i
Waltz, Op. 32 No. 1 C. Czerny bar 18: V7 → I
When the Saints Go Marching In Traditional bar 19: vi (C) → i

Go deeper

Train your ear to catch them → Our ear-training site drills authentic vs. plagal vs. deceptive endings until the last two chords of a phrase are something you can name by ear.
The theory: cadences and phrase endings → The full cadence taxonomy — authentic, half, plagal, deceptive — and how phrases (and whole pieces) end. The chapter on our theory site.
Not every V wants to land → Final cadences are the resolutions that do land home. This page surveys the dominants mid-piece that swerve away instead.
Learn a piece that uses them → The practice ladder loops eight bars at a time — hear the harmony slowly, read along, then play at tempo.