Exercise

Bass 263 — Diminished seventh

Minor-mode specificsA minor

Corpus id bass-263 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The diminished seventh on the raised leading tone: the bass carries the accidental on the staff, four voices carry four different tones, and the resolution doubles the third of the tonic.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1		bar 2		bar 3		bar 4		bar 5
Bass	A2		G♯2		A2	C3	D3	E3	A2
Figures			7			6		#

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

The model realization

4/4	bar 1	bar 2	bar 3		bar 4		bar 5
Soprano	E4	F4	E4	E4	F4	E4	E4
Alto	C4	D4	C4	E4	D4	B3	C4
Tenor	A3	B3	C4	A3	A3	G♯3	A3
Bass	A2	G♯2	A2	C3	D3	E3	A2
Figures		7		6		#

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

Four voices, four tones, no doubling to decide — the diminished seventh is the one seventh chord that settles the question itself. At the resolution both tritones close: the leading tone rises from the bass, the seventh falls by step, and the two inner voices converge on the third of the tonic chord, which is why that third arrives doubled. Distance closing from every side at once.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. The diminished seventh needs no figure accidentals at all here: the sharp lives on the bass note itself, and every upper tone is in the key signature. Read the 7 and trust the staff. Carry it into D minor, E minor.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-263 — Diminished seventh. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-263

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-263

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