Exercise

Bass 209 — Phrygian cadence

Cadence formulasA minor

Corpus id bass-209 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The Phrygian close, ending the exercise itself: the subdominant in first inversion falls a half step onto the dominant, and the line stops there.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1		bar 2		bar 3		bar 4		bar 5
Bass	A2		C3		D3		F3	E3	E3
Figures			6				6	#	#

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

The model realization

4/4	bar 1	bar 2	bar 3	bar 4		bar 5
Soprano	E4	A4	F4	A4	G♯4	G♯4
Alto	C4	E4	D4	D4	E4	E4
Tenor	A3	A3	A3	A3	B3	B3
Bass	A2	C3	D3	F3	E3	E3
Figures		6		6	#	#

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

Two half steps close onto the dominant — the sixth degree falling to the fifth in the bass, the tonic falling to the leading tone above — and the colour they make together is the cadence. It is minor’s own half close: an ending that is really a leaning.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. The exercise ends on the dominant on purpose. Let it ring, and notice that nothing in you believes the piece is over. Carry it into D minor, E minor.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-209 — Phrygian cadence. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-209

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-209

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