Exercise

Bass 1 — Bass in fifths

Root-position triads (5/3)C major

Corpus id bass-1 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

Root-position triads over a bass that moves by fourths and fifths — the most natural root motion there is.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1	bar 2	bar 3	bar 4	bar 5	bar 6	bar 7	bar 8
Bass	C3	F3	C3	G2	C3	D3	G2	C3

The given bass and its figures (C major, 4/4; ⌒ = tied from the previous note)

The model realization

4/4	bar 1	bar 2	bar 3	bar 4	bar 5	bar 6	bar 7	bar 8
Soprano	C5	C5	C5	B4	C5	A4	B4	C5
Alto	G4	A4	G4	G4	G4	F4	G4	G4
Tenor	E4	F4	E4	D4	E4	D4	D4	E4
Bass	C3	F3	C3	G2	C3	D3	G2	C3

The model realization (C major, 4/4; ⌒ = tied from the previous note)

The soprano holds C across the first three chords, so only the inner voices carry the change of harmony.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. Left hand takes the bass alone; the right hand holds all three upper voices. Carry it into G major, F major, D major.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-1 — Bass in fifths. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-1

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-1

Loading…