In music, if you are on the V or V7 chord (in the key of C that would be G or G7) the logical place for the music to go is to resolve back home to the I (C).  That’s why most two-chord songs are comprised of the the I and the V or V7 chords.  This logical resolution from the V/V7 to the I is called an Authentic Cadence.   When a song is on the V or V7 chord and moves to a chord other than the I it is called a Deceptive Cadence.

This deceptive cadence happens all the time in the 12 Bar Blues, a song form that is used in thousands of the early rock and roll songs. Get your ears tuned in to the sound of the V or V7 moving to the (G/G7 to F in the key of C) and before you know it, you’ll be hearing it everywhere!  Below are just three examples.

In Elvis’ Hound Dog you’ll hear the deceptive cadence at “you ain’t never caught a rabbit and you ain’t no friend of…”  (Key C)

In Buddy Holly’s Oh, Boy you’ll hear the deceptive cadence at “that you, were meant..” (Key A)

In Dion’s The Wanderer you’ll hear the deceptive cadence in the chorus at “they call me the wanderer, yeah, the wanderer..” (Key Eb)