Cadence Rhythm

There is a commercial on television for the Tangerine bank that depicts a series of pictures of people at work. The background music caught my attention because of the repeated rhythm. It reminded me of the movie images I’ve seen of soldiers in fitness training, jogging, singing and stepping in unison.

I can’t help but tap my feet when I hear it. Here’s the original commercial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lemu4VPBJDQ

This made me curious, what is a cadence? As a non-musical person, I know nothing of chords or beats or notes. I just know what I like. But I did some research.

A cadence is a rhythmic flow of a sequence of sounds or words.

The first time it was used in the military was in 1944. The particular rhythm used was created by a soldier named Willie Duckworth. Recordings were sent to World War II troops overseas by the U.S. Military as it was felt the chanting would build up the spirits of weary soldiers.

The infectious appeal of cadences is used to motivate and coordinate people who might not have anything in common. Cadences get members of a group to stay in step, keep up. It helps with breathing and cardio if you sing and manage your breath at the same time.

Here's a real military example, the Navy Seal Cadence…How’d ya earn your livin’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VgERHICNC0

It's catchy, all this left, right, left, right.....and it does work to keep you going. I just don't have anything I can repeat that is a colorful as some of the cadences I viewed in doing my research.