Given melody

Melody 5 — Melody half close

Diatonic MelodiesF majorharmonize downward

Corpus id melody-5 · cite this id — it is permanent

What it teaches

An antecedent that leaps up, sighs down by step, and stops on 2̂ is asking for the half cadence: the phrase ends on V, open, waiting for its answer.

The given melody

4/4	bar 1	bar 2	bar 3	bar 4	bar 5	bar 6
Soprano	A4	D5	C5	B♭4	A4	G4

The given melody — harmonize it downward (F major, 4/4; ⌒ = tied from the previous note)

Write the bass, the figures and the inner voices beneath it. Sing the line first; sketch the bass alone against it; add the figures your bass implies; fill the inner voices last.

The model harmonization

4/4	bar 1	bar 2	bar 3	bar 4	bar 5	bar 6
Soprano	A4	D5	C5	B♭4	A4	G4
Alto	C4	D4	F4	D4	F4	E4
Tenor	A3	F3	A3	B♭3	C4	C4
Bass	F3	B♭2	F3	G3	F3	C3

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

The exercise ends on the dominant by design — a half close, the phrase left open. The leading tone arrives in the alto on the final chord and simply sounds there; its resolution belongs to the consequent phrase the student should feel compelled to write.

At the keyboard

This realization is choral — the upper voices exceed a single hand’s span. Carry it into C major, G major.

Voice-leading patterns this exercise drills

Cite this exercise

Gradus Figured-Bass Corpus, melody-5 — Melody half close. v1.1. https://gradusmusic.com/figured-bass-corpus/exercise/melody-5

Corpus v1.1 · licensed CC-BY-4.0 · machine-readable at /api/v1/figured-bass/exercises/melody-5

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