Exercise

Bass 299 — Modulation to the relative minor

ModulationC major

Corpus id bass-299 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

To the relative minor: the subdominant pivots — IV of the home key, VI of the new — and the ♯ manufactures the leading tone the minor mode never owns.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1		bar 2		bar 3		bar 4		bar 5
Bass	C3		F3	E3	A2		D3	E3	A2
Figures				#				#

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	G4	A4	G♯4	A4	A4	G♯4	A4
Alto	E4	C4	E4	E4	F4	E4	E4
Tenor	C4	A3	B3	C4	D4	B3	C4
Bass	C3	F3	E3	A2	D3	E3	A2
Figures			#			#

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

The relative keys share every note but one, so the modulation is a single manufactured tone: the subdominant pivots without changing, and then ♯ raises G in the soprano’s own line into the leading tone A minor cannot supply for itself. Struck twice — once to arrive, once to confirm — because a single cadence borrowed is not yet a home changed.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. The soprano’s G rises to A, then falls a semitone onto G sharp — the same letter, recruited by a new key. One accidental converts brightness into pathos. Carry it into G major, F major.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-299 — Modulation to the relative minor. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-299

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-299

Loading…