Exercise

Bass 319 — Unfigured: the rising 5–6

Unfigured bassF majorunfigured bass

Corpus id bass-319 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

A bass that climbs by step, each tone struck twice: the only engine that fits is the rising 5–6, and the second strike of every pair writes its own 6.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1		bar 2		bar 3		bar 4		bar 5		bar 6
Bass	F2		F2	G2	G2	A2	A2	B♭2	B♭2	C3	F2
Figures			6		6		6		6

The given bass — unfigured: the student supplies the figures (F 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
Soprano	C4	D4	D4	E4	E4	F4	F4	G4	G4	F4
Alto	A3	A3	B♭3	B♭3	C4	C4	D4	D4	E4	C4
Tenor	F3	F3	D3	G3	C3	C3	F3	D3	G3	A3
Bass	F2	F2	G2	G2	A2	A2	B♭2	B♭2	C3	F2
Figures		6		6		6		6

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

Sequence recognition is figure recognition: a stepwise ascent cannot carry parallel triads, so a bass that repeats each tone on its way up is asking for the exchange — fifth become sixth, sixth become the next tone’s fifth. The student who hears the engine writes the figures; the student who only sees bass notes writes parallel fifths.

At the keyboard

This realization is choral — the upper voices exceed a single hand’s span. Read the rhythm before the pitches: a climbing bass striking each step twice is the 5–6 ladder announcing itself. Write a 6 on every second strike and the exercise is already solved. Carry it into C major, G major.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-319 — Unfigured: the rising 5–6. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-319

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-319

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