Exercise

Bass 189 — Octave rule — minor, descending

The Rule of the OctaveC minor

Corpus id bass-189 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The minor Rule of the Octave falling, where the sixth and seventh degrees revert and only the dominant keeps its accidental.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1	bar 2	bar 3	bar 4	bar 5	bar 6	bar 7	bar 8
Bass	C4	B♭3	A♭3	G3	F3	E♭3	D3	C3
Figures	5/3	6	6	#	#4/2	6	#6/4/3	5/3

The given bass and its figures (C 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	C5	D5	F5	G5	G5	G5	G5	G5
Alto	G4	G4	C5	B4	B4	C5	B4	C5
Tenor	E♭4	D4	C4	D4	D4	C4	F4	E♭4
Bass	C4	B♭3	A♭3	G3	F3	E♭3	D3	C3
Figures	5/3	6	6	#	#4/2	6	#6/4/3	5/3

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

The seventh degree is natural where the chord above it is the minor dominant, and raised where the chord is the true dominant. Read the accidental as belonging to the chord, and the pattern stops looking arbitrary.

At the keyboard

This realization is choral — the upper voices exceed a single hand’s span. Notice how few accidentals the descent needs. Every sharp you play here belongs to the dominant, and nowhere else. Carry it into G minor, F minor, D minor.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-189 — Octave rule — minor, descending. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-189

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-189

Loading…