Exercise

Bass 185 — Octave rule — minor, ascending

The Rule of the OctaveA minor

Corpus id bass-185 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The minor Rule of the Octave rising, where the sixth and seventh degrees are raised so the bass can climb into the tonic without an augmented second.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1	bar 2	bar 3	bar 4	bar 5	bar 6	bar 7	bar 8
Bass	A2	B2	C3	D3	E3	F♯3	G♯3	A3
Figures	5/3	#6/4/3	6	6/5	#	6	6	5/3

The given bass and its figures (A minor, 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	A4	G♯4	A4	B4	B4	D5	B4	A4
Alto	E4	E4	E4	F4	E4	D4	E4	E4
Tenor	C4	D4	C4	A3	G♯3	A3	B3	C4
Bass	A2	B2	C3	D3	E3	F♯3	G♯3	A3
Figures	5/3	#6/4/3	6	6/5	#	6	6	5/3

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

The raised sixth exists to protect the bass: left natural, the step from it to the leading tone would be an augmented second, which no singer would take. The accidental is a repair, not a change of key.

At the keyboard

This realization is choral — the upper voices exceed a single hand’s span. Find the two raised degrees under the hand before you start — they are the only notes not in the signature, and they both fall in the second half of the climb. Carry it into C minor, D minor, E minor, G minor.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-185 — Octave rule — minor, ascending. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-185

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-185

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