Exercise

Bass 247 — Entries of the seventh

Dominant seventh and inversionsG major

Corpus id bass-247 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

Three ways in, one way out: the seventh entering prepared, in passing, and freely — and falling by step every single time.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1		bar 2		bar 3		bar 4		bar 5		bar 6
Bass	G3		C3	D3	G3	D3	D3	G3	E3	D3	G2
Figures				7			7			7

The given bass and its figures (G 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	G4	F♯4	G4	A4	A4	G4	G4	A4	G4
Alto	D4	E4	D4	D4	F♯4	F♯4	D4	E4	F♯4	D4
Tenor	B3	C4	C4	B3	D4	C4	B3	B3	C4	B3
Bass	G3	C3	D3	G3	D3	D3	G3	E3	D3	G2
Figures			7			7			7

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

The stricter styles prepared the seventh like a suspension; later practice let it enter in passing, then freely — but the downward resolution never lapsed. This drill is that history in one line: entry is style, exit is law. However the C arrives, it leaves down a step.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. Three cadences, three different approaches to the same C: held over from the subdominant, walked down from D, struck from nowhere. The fall afterward is identical every time. Carry it into C major, F major.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-247 — Entries of the seventh. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-247

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-247

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