Exercise

Bass 268 — Melodic minor ascent

Minor-mode specificsD minor

Corpus id bass-268 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The rising line minor cannot sing unaided: the sixth and seventh degrees are raised in turn — each announced by a figure — so the soprano climbs to the tonic in whole and half steps.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1		bar 2		bar 3		bar 4
Bass	D3		F3	G3	A3		D3
Figures			6	#	#

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

The model realization

4/4	bar 1	bar 2		bar 3	bar 4
Soprano	A4	A4	B4	C♯5	D5
Alto	D4	D4	G4	E4	F4
Tenor	F3	A3	D4	A3	A3
Bass	D3	F3	G3	A3	D3
Figures		6	#	#

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

Left natural, the path from the sixth degree to the leading tone is an augmented second — an interval a line does not sing. So the ascent raises both: B♮ under the first ♯, C♯ under the second, and the soprano walks to the tonic in whole and half steps. The subdominant turns major in passing; that is not a change of key but the cost of a singable line — the raised tones belong to the climb.

At the keyboard

This realization is choral — the upper voices exceed a single hand’s span. The soprano climbs A, B natural, C sharp, D — the melodic minor ascent, one raised tone per figure. Play the same climb with B flat and hear the augmented second the accidentals exist to prevent. Carry it into A minor, G minor.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-268 — Melodic minor ascent. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-268

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-268

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