A staircase descending into fire and dust.
The Progression
The Andalusian cadence is a descending four-chord figure: i–♭VII–♭VI–V, whose bass walks stepwise down from the minor tonic to the dominant. Despite the name it is not truly a cadence in the textbook sense but a repeating progression, one whose falling motion evokes the Phrygian flavor of flamenco and the sun-baked tragedy of Spanish music. The final V, a major chord borrowed for its leading-tone bite, snaps the loop back to the minor tonic with a hint of scorched drama.
The descent is everything. Each chord lowers the bass by a whole or half step, and the major V at the bottom, with its raised third against the minor mode above, produces the distinctive Phrygian-dominant color that reads instantly as Andalusian, Middle Eastern, or simply fateful. It sounds ancient and inevitable, a slow fall that keeps beginning again.
Structure
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Roman numerals | i: ♭VII: ♭VI. V |
| Example in C | Am: G: F. E |
| Chords used | Minor Triad (i), Major Triad (♭VII, ♭VI, V) |
| Character | Dark, Spanish, descending, tragic |
| Function | Stepwise minor descent to a Phrygian dominant |
In Practice
It is the harmonic signature of flamenco and passes freely into rock, classical, and film scoring. "Hit the Road Jack," "Sultans of Swing," the flamenco tradition writ large, and countless tango and surf tunes descend this same staircase. Its brooding character connects it to the minor-leaning vi-IV-I-V, and its link to the Scales & Modes of the Phrygian family gives it that unmistakable color.