Exercise

Bass 9 — Bass in thirds

Root-position triads (5/3)C major

Corpus id bass-9 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

A bass falling by thirds. Each pair of chords shares two tones, so the upper voices barely have to move.

The given bass

4/4	bar 1	bar 2	bar 3	bar 4	bar 5	bar 6
Bass	C3	A2	F3	D3	G2	C3

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	bar 6
Soprano	C5	C5	C5	D5	D5	C5
Alto	G4	A4	A4	A4	B4	G4
Tenor	E4	E4	F4	F4	D4	E4
Bass	C3	A2	F3	D3	G2	C3

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

Common tones held wherever possible: this is the smoothest progression in the corpus, and the reason falling thirds sound so settled.

At the keyboard

The three upper voices of the model realization fit under one hand. The right hand hardly moves for five chords — feel how little work third-related harmony asks of it. Carry it into G major, F major, D major.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, bass-9 — Bass in thirds. v1.0. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/bass-9

Corpus v1.0 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/bass-9

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