Exercise

Bass 208 — Half cadence, minor

Cadence formulasE minor

Corpus id bass-208 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The half cadence in minor, where the dominant that ends the question carries the sharp — the question is asked with the leading tone already in hand.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1		bar 2		bar 3		bar 4		bar 5		bar 6
Bass	E3		A2	B2	B2		G2	A2	B2		E3
Figures				#	#		6		#

The given bass and its figures (E 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
Soprano	G4	A4	F♯4	F♯4	E4	E4	D♯4	E4
Alto	E4	E4	D♯4	D♯4	E4	C4	B3	B3
Tenor	B3	C4	B3	B3	B3	A3	F♯3	G3
Bass	E3	A2	B2	B2	G2	A2	B2	E3
Figures			#	#	6		#

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

Minor cannot even ask its question without the accidental: the half-cadence dominant needs the raised third to be a dominant at all, so the figures carry the sharp twice — once for the question left open, once for the answer that closes it.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. Both dominants take the same sharp. The first one is left standing; only the second is allowed to fall home. Carry it into A minor, B minor.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-208 — Half cadence, minor. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-208

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-208

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