I'm currently preparing for grade 8 exam with the ABRSM 'Big 8' Workbook. I've got a question on Pg. 55 (general question).

Question 1 © C
"a dominant 7th chord in second inversion (V7c) with a suspended minor 9th above it, in the key of F minor."

Is the question asking for a suspended 9th above the root © or base (G) of chord CEGB?

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,Esther

Hi estherclaire,

Sadly I don't have a copy of Big 8 in front of me to give a more definite answer, but here goes...

Key = F Minor
Dominant 7th (V7) = C E G Bb
In 2nd Inv (V7c) = G in Bass (i.e. lowest note)
Suspended Minor 9th above = ???

It's either going to be 9th above the root C (=D), or above the bass note G (=A). I would go for D myself, but I can see where the confusion arises.

Good luck with that search.

denmark

...so D it is then...

You are quite right cambiata, 9th is counte above the root of the chord, not the bass. I was thinking aloud in my first post, then came back and added what I thought was the right answer D at the end, which I later noticed agreed with yours. Boring I know.

denmark

Db, guys, not D. Minor ninth.

Hi Everyone,
Sorry this is late but thank you very much for your response and good explaination.
Now i got it


Esther

Hi, Im taking the exam this time round, thing im most worried about is getting it all finished in the three hours, it goes so quickly! im still too slow although im getting there. you getting on ok?

Yes I am the same with some off days and others ok, I've been doing the 2008 papers timed and some 2007, I've found the 2008 ones harder, sometimes the compositions just get going straight away and sometimes I can go blank and thats when I panic. Plus I know it's important but i seem to spend so much time making it look all neat and writing things up so I don't lose marks and that seems to take so much time. Do you plan how long you should take on each section? do you usually get done both questions 4 and 5 in 30 to 40 mins?

I will have looked at that paper you mentioned so I'll check what I put.

I took the Grade 8 exam in 2008 and found the paper harder than any of the ones I did for practice. I'd been pretty confident on the day as I'd worked through a lot of past papers, but when I started working the paper I thought I probably wouldn't do as well as I'd hoped. It's just the luck of the draw whether you get a paper you find easy or hard.