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These patterns — cadences, rules of the octave, sequences — are the vocabulary of tonal composition. Every great composer from Bach to Brahms internalized them through years of keyboard study and thoroughbass realization. Gradus teaches them the same way: by drilling them until they are reflexive.
Source: A Compendium of Thoroughbass Patterns (scholarly edition) — integrated into Gradus Stage II
majorANT13oPEN2o7ULT11oSimple Cadence extracted from Compendium-English.musicxml (mm. 1–2).
minorANT13oPEN#72oULT11oSimple Cadence extracted from Compendium-English.musicxml (mm. 5–6).
majorANT3o1PEN__2o7ULT1o1Compound Cadence extracted from Compendium-English.musicxml (mm. 51–52).
5o1o5o5435o645435o1o4o655o5o3o64o655o1o1o1o1oDouble Cadence extracted from Compendium-English.musicxml (mm. 11–12).
1o52o63o64o565o56o67o51o5Basic Rule of the Octave (3v) extracted from Compendium-English.musicxml (mm. 185–186).
1o2o63o64o65o66o67o61oParallel 6/3 Chords (Fauxbourdon) extracted from Compendium-English.musicxml (mm. 249–250).
1o5o6o3o4o1oRomanesca (↓4 ↑2) extracted from Compendium-English.musicxml (mm. 547–547).
437o651oGalant Schema extracted from Compendium-English.musicxml (mm. 700–700).
The Rule of the Octave is not a scale exercise — it is the harmonic vocabulary of the entire Baroque and Classical era. Knowing which chord harmonizes each scale degree is what allows a composer to write a bass line and hear the harmony above it in real time.
Cadence patterns are the punctuation of tonal music. Syncopated cadences (suspensions resolving 4–3, 7–6, 9–8) are the most expressive harmonic events in the language. Drill these until they are reflexes, and you will hear them everywhere.
Gradus includes the full thoroughbass Compendium — cadences, double cadences, syncopated cadences, rules of the octave in major and minor, sequences, bass patterns, and schemata — rendered in live VexFlow notation with figured bass annotations and keyboard realization practice.
New lessons, score studies, and curriculum updates — a short note now and then, as the method grows.