Which statement describes a real sequence?

• A. Second segment moves to a different tonal center
• B. Second segment is exact intervallic transposition of the first
• C. Only part of first segment is transposed
• D. First segment transposed but kept in diatonic scale

Answer: (B)

Real sequences hinge on preserving every interval exactly when a motif is repeated at a new pitch level. The second segment is an exact intervallic transposition of the first, meaning you move every note by a fixed amount and keep the same distances between consecutive notes. For example, take a short phrase like C–D–E–F and transpose it up a whole step: D–E–F#–G. The pattern of intervals hasn’t changed, just the pitch level, so the second segment sounds like a faithful lift of the first.

That precise, uniform shift is what makes the sequence “real.” The other statements describe different ideas: a tonal shift describes changing the center of gravity or key area rather than preserving the exact interval structure; transposing only part of the phrase or forcing the figure to stay strictly diatonic would alter the interval relationships and thus would not be a real sequence.