Exercise

Bass 203 — Compound cadence

Cadence formulasG major

Corpus id bass-203 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The compound cadence: the bass takes the dominant early while the upper voices hold the tonic chord above it as a six-four, then fall by step before the close.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1		bar 2		bar 3		bar 4		bar 5
Bass	G2		B2		C3		D3	D3	G2
Figures			6				6/4	5/3

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

The model realization

4/4	bar 1	bar 2	bar 3	bar 4		bar 5
Soprano	B4	D5	C5	B4	A4	G4
Alto	G4	G4	G4	G4	F♯4	D4
Tenor	D4	D4	E4	D4	D4	B3
Bass	G2	B2	C3	D3	D3	G2
Figures		6		6/4	5/3

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

The six-four is heard as a double suspension: its fourth and sixth stand at a distance they must close, falling to the third and fifth while the bass beneath them does not move. That is why it sits on the stronger beat than the chord it decorates — tension strikes where the weight is.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. The six-four falls on the strong half of the bar, its resolution on the weak — reverse them and the formula loses its lean. Carry it into C major, D major, F major.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-203 — Compound cadence. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-203

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-203

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