Exercise

Bass 205 — Double cadence

Cadence formulasF major

Corpus id bass-205 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The double cadence: the bass holds the dominant through four stations — plain chord, six-four, suspended fourth, resolution — before the fall to the tonic.

The given bass

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

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

The model realization

4/4	bar 1	bar 2	bar 3		bar 4		bar 5
Soprano	A4	B♭4	G4	A4	G4	G4	F4
Alto	F4	F4	E4	F4	F4	E4	C4
Tenor	C4	D4	C4	C4	C4	C4	A3
Bass	F3	B♭2	C3	C3	C3	C3	F3
Figures				6/4	5/4	5/3

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

Four stations over one unmoving bass: the plain dominant, the six-four leaning on it, the fourth held over after the sixth has fallen, and its resolution to the third. The 4–3 tail is the compound cadence embedded at the end of the longer ritual — the close announces itself before it happens.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. A full measure and more spent on one bass note: this is the thoroughbass player’s signal that a real ending has arrived. Count the four stations aloud the first time. Carry it into C major, G major, Bb major.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-205 — Double cadence. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-205

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-205

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