Exercise

Bass 242 — V7 in 4/3, minor

Dominant seventh and inversionsE minor

Corpus id bass-242 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The 4/3 in minor, written out in full as ♯6/4/3 — the accidental that raises the dominant’s third falls on the sixth above the bass, so the shorthand will not do.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1		bar 2		bar 3		bar 4
Bass	E3	F♯3	G3	E3	A3	B3	E3
Figures		#6/4/3	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
Soprano	G4	A4	G4	G4	A4	F♯4	G4
Alto	E4	D♯4	E4	E4	E4	D♯4	E4
Tenor	B3	B3	B3	B3	C4	B3	B3
Bass	E3	F♯3	G3	E3	A3	B3	E3
Figures		#6/4/3	6			#

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

The same passing shape as the major version, with minor’s signature complication: the raised tone sits a sixth above the bass, and the 4/3 shorthand leaves the 6 unprinted with nowhere to put its accidental. The full ♯6/4/3 is not pedantry — it is the only spelling that tells the player where the leading tone is.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. Read the long figure from the top down: sharp sixth, fourth, third. The sharp is D sharp — the leading tone hiding in the middle of the stack. Carry it into A minor, B minor.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-242 — V7 in 4/3, minor. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-242

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-242

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