Exercise

Bass 304 — Octave rule in remote keys, descending

ModulationAb major

Corpus id bass-304 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The descending Rule four flats deep: the 4/2 still arrives on the falling fourth degree, and the bass still pays the seventh it carries — in any key whatsoever.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1	bar 2	bar 3	bar 4	bar 5	bar 6	bar 7	bar 8
Bass	A♭3	G3	F3	E♭3	D♭3	C3	B♭2	A♭2
Figures	5/3	6	6	5/3	4/2	6	4/3	5/3

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

The model realization

4/4	bar 1	bar 2	bar 3	bar 4	bar 5	bar 6	bar 7	bar 8
Soprano	C5	E♭5	D♭5	E♭5	E♭5	E♭5	E♭5	E♭5
Alto	A♭4	B♭4	A♭4	B♭4	B♭4	C5	D♭5	C5
Tenor	E♭4	E♭4	F4	G4	G4	A♭4	G4	A♭4
Bass	A♭3	G3	F3	E♭3	D♭3	C3	B♭2	A♭2
Figures	5/3	6	6	5/3	4/2	6	4/3	5/3

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

The descent’s lesson survives translation intact: the bass takes the seventh at the falling fourth degree and must step down to resolve it, the leading-tone degree keeps its tone undoubled, and the whole pattern reads from the same figures that served in C. Four flats are not a new grammar; they are the old grammar in a further room.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. Name each figure aloud before playing it in the new key. The descent’s engine — the 4/2 on the fourth degree, resolving down — sounds exactly as it did with no flats at all. Carry it into Eb major, Db major, F major.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-304 — Octave rule in remote keys, descending. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-304

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-304

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