Everything Comes to an End | 3 Professional Ways to End Your Song

If you grew up listening to rock and pop songs on the radio like I did, you probably noticed that not all of them came to a resolute ending. In other words, the song continued to repeat and fade out. This is also referred to as a repeat and fade ending.

But you don't really have this option playing songs at your piano. The repeat and fade is more of a recording technique. Since you're playing live, you'll most likely end your songs on a final measure and an ending chord.

Let me also add that if you're playing from some type of written music, it may suggest a repeat and fade ending. But your song ending can just as interesting as any part of your song. Let's talk about 3 professional ways to end your song.

If I had to point out the most common ending to a song, it would be the V7 chord resolving to the I chord. In the key of C Major it would be the G7 to C chord. (Roman numerals are commonly used to signify diatonic chords)

But you can go beyond that generic ending and with these 3 creative professional sounding endings.

1 Whole Step Ending

The whole step ending is just as described. Your target is the I chord but instead of moving directly from the V chord to get there, the progression takes a detour and moves to the sharp V tone and proceeds to the flatted VII tone. The progression then ends on the I tone. All of these tones in the bass are whole step apart.

Sharp V Chord

Flat VII Chord

I Chord

2 Sharp V v I Ending

This ending makes use of the sharp V tone which is a half step above the 5th. This is similar to the sharp V in the whole step ending but utilizes a different voicing. The v chord is minor instead of Major as was in the whole step ending.

Sharp V Chord

v Chord

I Chord

3 II7  V I Ending

This is quite a common ending. However the ii chord is often minor. In this case, we're utilizing a II7 chord which is Major. The V chord is suspended and could also be described as IV over V chord. It has a very strong pull back to the I chord.

Even though these endings are all in the key of C major, you can transpose them to any other Major key. The possibilities are infinite. So be creative as you go beyond these endings to invent your own.

Until time, Go Play!