Exercise

Bass 305 — Neapolitan sixth

Chromatic figuresA minor

Corpus id bass-305 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

The Neapolitan sixth: the ♭6 figure over the fourth degree builds the flattened supertonic in first inversion, and its dark second degree walks down through the cadential 6/4 onto the sharp.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1		bar 2		bar 3		bar 4
Bass	A2		D3		E3	E3	A2
Figures			b6		6/4	#

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

The model realization

4/4	bar 1	bar 2	bar 3		bar 4
Soprano	A4	B♭4	A4	G♯4	A4
Alto	E4	F4	E4	E4	E4
Tenor	C4	D4	C4	B3	C4
Bass	A2	D3	E3	E3	A2
Figures		b6	6/4	#

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

The Neapolitan leans on the cadence from above: ♭2̂ stands a dark semitone over the tonic degree and owes a descent. The classic realization routes it stepwise — B♭ to A as the cadential 6/4 arrives, A to G♯ as the ♯ demands — so the ear hears the pull close by half steps and the awkward diminished third between ♭2̂ and the leading tone is walked through, not leapt.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. The soprano walks the whole story: B flat, A, G sharp — the flattened second degree stepping down through the six-four onto the leading tone. Never leap that B flat straight to G sharp; the diminished third is a written interval, not a sung one. Carry it into D minor, E minor.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-305 — Neapolitan sixth. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-305

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-305

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