Exercise

Bass 326 — Diminution: neighbor tones, minor

DiminutionE minorwith florid model

Corpus id bass-326 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

Neighbor diminution in minor, where the raised tones constrain the ornaments: the leading tone’s neighbors are chosen so no line brushes an augmented second.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1	bar 2	bar 3	bar 4
Bass	E3	A2	B2	E3
Figures			#

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

The model realization

4/4	bar 1	bar 2	bar 3	bar 4
Soprano	G4	A4	F♯4	G4
Alto	E4	E4	D♯4	E4
Tenor	B3	C4	B3	B3
Bass	E3	A2	B2	E3
Figures			#

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

Minor disciplines the ornament: neighbors are chosen from the scale as the moment inflects it, and the raised tones are left plain — the D♯ decorated would flirt with the augmented second on one side and dilute its rise on the other. Diminution’s judgment is largely the judgment of what to leave alone.

The florid model

4/4	bar 1			bar 2			bar 3			bar 4
Soprano	G4	F♯4	G4	A4	G4	A4	F♯4	E4	F♯4	G4
Alto	E4			E4			D♯4			E4
Tenor	B3	A3	B3	C4			B3			B3
Bass	E3			A2			B2			E3
Figures							#

The florid model — the block realization opened into texture (E minor, 4/4; ⌒ = tied from the previous note)

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. Notice which tone is never ornamented: the alto’s D sharp. A made leading tone has one job, and hanging neighbors on it blurs the very pull it exists to make. Carry it into A minor, D minor.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-326 — Diminution: neighbor tones, minor. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-326

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-326

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