Exercise

Bass 250 — Falling fifths, minor

Bass motions and sequencesE minor

Corpus id bass-250 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The circle in minor: all natural until the end — six diatonic stations, then the sharp arrives with the true dominant and closes what the circle prepared.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1		bar 2		bar 3		bar 4		bar 5
Bass	E3		A2	D3	G2	C3	F♯2	B2	E3
Figures								#

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		bar 5
Soprano	G4	A4	A4	B4	G4	A4	F♯4	G4
Alto	E4	E4	F♯4	G4	E4	F♯4	D♯4	E4
Tenor	B3	C4	D4	D4	C4	C4	B3	B3
Bass	E3	A2	D3	G2	C3	F♯2	B2	E3
Figures							#

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

Minor’s circle runs its natural form — the minor dominant, the major subtonic, the relative’s chords — because sequential motion suspends the cadential obligations that demand the sharp. Only when the circle stops being a sequence and becomes a cadence does the leading tone appear, and the two upper voices reach it by falling thirds from the diminished station.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. Six chords with nothing but the key signature under the fingers — then D sharp appears exactly once, at the door of the close. Carry it into A minor, B minor.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-250 — Falling fifths, minor. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-250

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-250

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