Exercise

Bass 223 — Arpeggio 6/4

Second inversion (6/4)C major

Corpus id bass-223 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The arpeggio 6/4: the bass walks its own chord — root, third, fifth — while the harmony stands still and the figures merely report where the bass is standing.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1		bar 2		bar 3		bar 4
Bass	C3		E3	G3	F3	G3	C3
Figures			6	6/4

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

The model realization

4/4	bar 1	bar 2		bar 3		bar 4
Soprano	G4	G4	G4	A4	G4	G4
Alto	E4	E4	E4	F4	D4	E4
Tenor	C4	C4	C4	C4	B3	C4
Bass	C3	E3	G3	F3	G3	C3
Figures		6	6/4

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

Fourth function: no function at all. The upper voices hold one chord while the bass arpeggiates through it, and the figures 5/3, 6, 6/4 name three stations of a single harmony. Nothing resolves because nothing dissonates — the proof that a 6/4 is an event only when its context makes it one.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. The right hand holds one shape for three figures. Only the left hand travels — and it never leaves home. Carry it into G major, F major.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-223 — Arpeggio 6/4. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-223

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-223

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