Omnibus Progression - A Simple Example

A Simple Example

The following example is in C major. The lowest part is a "lament bass" that descends from the tonic to the dominant using chromatic passing tones before returning at the end up to the tonic in a perfect cadence. The upper voice moves in the opposite direction from the dominant note up to the tonic. The chord names are given, followed where necessary by the inversion in figured bass. For example, 'Cm(6/4)' refers to a C minor triad in second inversion.

| C | G7(6/5) | Bb7 | Dm(6/4) | Bb7(4/2) | G7 | C |

A more extended treatment of this version of the omnibus could be:

| C | G7(6/5) | Bb7 | Dm(6/4)| Bb7(4/2)| G7 | Bm(6/4)| G7(4/2)| | E7 | G#m(6/4)| E7(4/2)| C#7 | Fm(6/4) | C#7(4/2)| Bb7 | Dm(6/4)| Bb7(4/2) | G7 | C |

For the purposes of composition, the pattern may be halted at any point, and in so doing may facilitate modulation to any desired key.