Exercise

Bass 233 — Suspension chain 7–6

SuspensionsC major

Corpus id bass-233 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The 7–6 chain: each resolution is the next preparation, and the device renews itself as long as the bass keeps walking down.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1		bar 2		bar 3		bar 4		bar 5		bar 6
Bass	C3	A3	G3	G3	F3	F3	E3	E3	F3	G3	C3
Figures		6	7	6	7	6	7	6	6

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		bar 5		bar 6
Soprano	G4	F4	F4	E4	E4	D4	D4	C4	D4	D4	E4
Alto	E4	C4	D4	B3	A3	A3	B3	C4	A3	B3	C4
Tenor	C4	C4	B3	G3	A3	F3	G3	G3	A3	G3	G3
Bass	C3	A3	G3	G3	F3	F3	E3	E3	F3	G3	C3
Figures		6	7	6	7	6	7	6	6

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

Because a resolution is a consonance, it can serve as the preparation of the next suspension: the soprano’s sixth over each bass tone becomes the seventh against the next, three times in a row. The strictest dissonance discipline becomes an engine of continuity — the classic sequence of the strict style.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. Play the soprano alone first: one tone repeated and dropped, repeated and dropped, all the way down the scale. The chain is that line, harmonized. Carry it into F major, G major.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-233 — Suspension chain 7–6. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-233

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-233

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