Backdoor Cadence I-iv-bVII7-I
Piano sound loads on first tap. Resolved in the key of C — every chord links to its full analysis.
A jazz resolution that sneaks in the 'back door'. Instead of the usual V, a borrowed minor iv and a flat-seventh DOMINANT (bVII7) approach the tonic from below by a whole step — a warm, gospel-tinged alternative to the standard V–I pull.
What each degree does
Feels like home — complete rest, where the piece departs from and returns to. The major tonic, where everything settles.
The minor subdominant — a IV borrowed from the minor mode. That bittersweet, nostalgic plagal colour of a chord that 'should' be major arriving tinged with sadness.
The 'backdoor' dominant — a major-7th chord on bVII that resolves UPWARD to I, a warm, unexpected cadence borrowed from jazz.
Feels like home — complete rest, where the piece departs from and returns to. The major tonic, where everything settles.