Exercise

Bass 212 — Plagal cadence, minor

Cadence formulasD minor

Corpus id bass-212 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The minor plagal close: the same confirmation after the true close, darkened by the minor subdominant and the sixth degree falling inside it.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1		bar 2		bar 3		bar 4		bar 5
Bass	D3		G2	A2	D3		G2		D3
Figures				#

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

The model realization

4/4	bar 1	bar 2		bar 3	bar 4	bar 5
Soprano	F4	G4	E4	D4	D4	D4
Alto	D4	D4	C♯4	A3	B♭3	A3
Tenor	A3	B♭3	A3	F3	G3	F3
Bass	D3	G2	A2	D3	G2	D3
Figures			#

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

The confirming close carries minor’s signature inside it: as the subdominant settles home, the alto falls from the sixth degree to the fifth — the same half-step pull that drives the Phrygian close, here spent gently over a tonic already won.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. Compare the last two bars with the major version played just before: one tone lower in the alto, and the amen turns grave. Carry it into A minor, G minor.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-212 — Plagal cadence, minor. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-212

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-212

Loading…