Exercise

Bass 286 — Dominant pedal (Ponte), minor

Pedal pointD minor

Corpus id bass-286 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The Ponte in minor: the sharp returns with every dominant stack over the held bass, and the six-four between them carries none — the accidental belongs to the chord, not the ground.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1		bar 2		bar 3		bar 4		bar 5
Bass	D3		A2	A2	A2	A2	A2		D3
Figures			#	6/4	7/#	6/4	7/#

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	bar 5
Soprano	F4	E4	F4	E4	D4	C♯4	D4
Alto	D4	C♯4	D4	C♯4	A3	A3	A3
Tenor	A3	A3	A3	G3	F3	G3	F3
Bass	D3	A2	A2	A2	A2	A2	D3
Figures		#	6/4	7/#	6/4	7/#

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

Minor’s bridge alternates the same two harmonies as major’s, but the figures now carry the mode’s whole argument: each dominant stack must ask for its raised third with a ♯, and each six-four between them reverts to the key. Read down the bar line and the accidentals trace the chord changes over a bass that never moves.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. Watch the sharp blink on and off: present at every dominant stack, absent at every six-four. One bass note, two chords, and the accidental tells you which one is sounding. Carry it into A minor, G minor.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-286 — Dominant pedal (Ponte), minor. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-286

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-286

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