Prevailing Key
Prevailing Key The key at the start of a piece of music is the “home” key. Music can change key for brief moments, or for longer passages. When there’s a …
Close Keys
Close Keys for Modulation Whichever key you begin with, the closest keys to modulate to are the dominant (add one sharp or remove one flat), the subdominant (add one flat …
Modulation
Modulation “Modulation” in music means “change of key”. A modulation can happen with or without a change of key signature, and in fact, most modulations do not include a change …
Implied Harmony
Implied Harmony Although we think of harmony as being chords (usually three or more notes sounding at the same time), even a single line of melody has harmony embedded within …
Q2 | Realising a Figured Bass
Q2 Realising a Figured Bass “Realising a figured bass line” is a type of harmony exercise, where the figured bass is used to construct both a melody and inner harmony …
Q1b | Adding a Bass and Figures
ABRSM Grade 6 Q1b: Adding Bass and Figures to a Soprano Line In this lesson we will find out how to add a bass line and figures to a given …
Accidentals
Figured Bass Accidentals If a chord needs an accidental, a flat, sharp or natural sign is added as a figure. It is either written next to the number it applies …
Continuation Lines
In figured bass, a horizontal line shows that the same chord continues. It is called a “continuation line”. Compare these two examples: In A, a different chord would be needed …
5/3, 6/3 and 6/4
5/3 – Root Position Chords 5/3 means “root position chord”, or “a” chord. We must add a 5th and a 3rd above the bass note to make a complete chord. …
Figured Bass
Figured Bass – Introduction Figured bass is a 17th-18th century system for notating improvised chords, which is used in modern times as a tool for music theory and analysis (so, …