Exercise

Bass 288 — Dominant pedal — the double cadence

Pedal pointD major

Corpus id bass-288 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The double cadence heard as what it always was — a short dominant pedal: six-four, suspended fourth, resolution and the gathering seventh, all over the held fifth degree.

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	5/4		7

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

The model realization

4/4	bar 1	bar 2		bar 3		bar 4	bar 5
Soprano	F♯4	E4	F♯4	E4	E4	E4	D4
Alto	D4	C♯4	D4	D4	C♯4	C♯4	A3
Tenor	A3	A3	A3	A3	A3	G3	F♯3
Bass	D3	A2	A2	A2	A2	A2	D3
Figures			6/4	5/4		7

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

The double cadence and the dominant pedal are one idea at two lengths: the bass takes the fifth degree and holds it through the six-four, the suspended fourth and its fall, then gathers the seventh — and only then goes home, the seventh falling into the third as the alto’s leading tone takes the inner license down to the fifth. What Stage 4 called a ritual, this stage calls a ground.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. Stage 4 taught these stations as a cadence formula; play them now as a pedal and hear that they were always the same thing — a dominant refusing to move until everything above it has finished leaning. Carry it into G major, A major.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-288 — Dominant pedal — the double cadence. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-288

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-288

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