[Aduro]

Revising for my Bach chorale A2 retake in January I came across a cadence that I cant solve. It is the cadence at bar 6 if anyone wants to have a go!

By the way its not iib7 V7 I because the tonic (D major) wouldn't fit in the soprano part (B).

It's the Bach chorale challenge!... or a way of helping me revise

[ArchedEdge]

Uh...Eflat major?

What's wrong with that?

[Aduro]

Originally Posted by ArchedEdge

Uh...Eflat major?

What's wrong with that?

I'm asking for the chords of the cadence, e.g iib7 V7 I, Ic V7 I, etc. iib7 V7 I doesn't work in the cadence at bar 6 and normally a passing note in the soprano line of a cadence would signal a seventh.

[ArchedEdge]

Originally Posted by Aduro

I'm asking for the chords of the cadence, e.g iib7 V7 I, Ic V7 I, etc. iib7 V7 I doesn't work in the cadence at bar 6 and normally a passing note in the soprano line of a cadence would signal a seventh.

Well just treat the soprano line as a 8 7 6 5 in Eflat major is what I've been told (if I remember correctly, which I might not )

From your first post sounds like you were treating it in D, just think about it in terms of E flat and you'll probably be able to come to some solution. Probably plagal?

[Aduro]

Yeah its definitely Eflat major but we've been taught to never use plagal and there's nothing else I can think of. I was treating it as D because I've never seen a passing note in the soprano of the first chord of a cadence that wasn't iib7 V7 I.

[Aduro]

ArchedEdge, you sound quite knowledgeable about Bach Chorales, I'm trying to learn to harmonize cadences and general soprano parts using the number system. Like 3-2-1 would be Ic V7 I, do you know any more?

[ArchedEdge]

Well there's loads, has your teacher not shown you the standard harmonisations of the soprano lines?

And there's nothing wrong with the plagal chord at all. Use it when it fits

[Aduro]

Originally Posted by ArchedEdge

Well there's loads, has your teacher not shown you the standard harmonisations of the soprano lines?

And there's nothing wrong with the plagal chord at all. Use it when it fits

I know basically how to harmonize them and to aim for chords to be a fifth apart including first inversion chords to avoid consecutive fifths. But if you could make a list using the number system I would be so grateful!

[Aduro]

Still have no idea what this cadence is, the passing note in the first chord normally signals a falling seventh or a 9-8 suspension over I but it cant be either!

[Haeron]

It's just a passing note, nothing fancy. Get yerself a Riemenschneider.

Maybe ii7b V? Even use an Ab chord on the C. In fact you could even turn the ii7b into a V of Bb (introduce an A natural), and modulate (basically). Would work. In fact, I would recommend this progression, as it allows you to drop the A natural down to the F in the Bb chord - a typical Bach trick which will gain you stylistic points.