Exercise

Bass 271 — The bare ♭ — borrowed iv

Bare accidentals as figuresC major

Corpus id bass-271 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The bare ♭: a semitone down from the key. Over the subdominant after the close it borrows the minor iv — the Picardy third’s mirror image.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1		bar 2		bar 3		bar 4		bar 5
Bass	C3		F3	G3	C3		F3		C3
Figures							b

The given bass and its figures (C major, 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	D4	E4	F4	E4
Alto	C4	C4	B3	C4	C4	C4
Tenor	G3	A3	G3	G3	A♭3	G3
Bass	C3	F3	G3	C3	F3	C3
Figures					b

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

Stage 9 brightened a minor ending with a borrowed major third; the bare ♭ is the same borrowing run the other way. After the true close, the subdominant returns with its third lowered a semitone from the key — A♭ where the key says A — and settles home with the ♭6-to-5 fall that is minor’s signature, spent gently over a major tonic already won.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. Play the last three chords twice: once ignoring the ♭, once obeying it. The plain subdominant confirms; the darkened one consoles. Carry it into G major, F major.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-271 — The bare ♭ — borrowed iv. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-271

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-271

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