Exercise

Bass 311 — Applied dominant chain

Chromatic figuresC major

Corpus id bass-311 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

Applied dominants in an elided chain: each chord’s falling seventh lands on the next chord’s raised third, and the made leading tones climb the circle rung by rung into new roots.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1		bar 2		bar 3		bar 4		bar 5
Bass	C3		E3	A2	D3	G2	G2		C3
Figures			7/#	7/#	7/#		7

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	G♯4	A4	C5	B4	B4	C5
Alto	E4	E4	G4	F♯4	G4	G4	G4
Tenor	C4	D4	C♯4	D4	D4	F4	E4
Bass	C3	E3	A2	D3	G2	G2	C3
Figures		7/#	7/#	7/#		7

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

The chain of sevenths chromaticized: each dominant is elided into the next, its seventh falling one degree to become the raised third of the chord that follows, its made leading tone rising into the new root. The soprano’s G♯ is the one true inflection — raised in the voice that had the natural — and the machine then hands the work around: sevenths rotate through tenor, alto and soprano until the diatonic dominant catches the chain and spends it home.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. Follow the sevenths down and the sharps up: D falls onto C sharp, G falls onto F sharp, while G sharp, C sharp and F sharp each rise into a new root. Two laws, one machine. Carry it into G major, F major.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-311 — Applied dominant chain. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-311

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-311

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