Exercise

Bass 191 — Stationary bass

First inversion (6)C major

Corpus id bass-191 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The 6 figure over a bass that does not move: one voice steps from the fifth to the sixth, and that single step is a change of chord.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1	bar 2	bar 3	bar 4	bar 5	bar 6
Bass	C3	C3	F3	F3	G3	C3
Figures		6		6

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
Soprano	E4	E4	F4	F4	D4	E4
Alto	C4	C4	C4	D4	B3	C4
Tenor	G3	A3	A3	A3	G3	G3
Bass	C3	C3	F3	F3	G3	C3
Figures		6		6

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

Over the repeated bass, only the fifth moves — up a step to become a sixth — and the harmony changes with it. This is the smallest possible harmonic motion: the bass at rest, one voice carrying the whole journey.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. Hold everything that can be held. At each repeated bass note, the change of chord is one finger moving up a step. Carry it into G major, F major, D major.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-191 — Stationary bass. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-191

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-191

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