Most often associated with the harmonization of Gregorian psalm tones, it is based on root position triads and is first known to have appeared in southern Europe in the 1480s.
There is no consensus on the exact relationship between falsobordone and the etymologically related fauxbourdon, and the historical use of the terms is not consistent.
Thus, strictly applying Guilielmus’ rules makes forbidden parallels impossible, even without preplanning the harmony.
The recitation is followed by an elaborate cadence in which the chord changes every beat, more or less in the manner described above, but rarely in an absolutely strict alternation of 1-3-5-8 and 1-5-8-10 voicings.
Since most tenors (cantus firmi, traditional chant melodies) would have ended with a descending step to the finalis (the tonal center of a mode, comparable to a tonic), the bass voice would consequently approach the finalis from a fourth below, resulting in a chord succession that anticipates the dominant–tonic relationship that would govern later music.
Relative to tonal music, this ending could be described as a Perfect Authentic Cadence, with the soprano ascending from the leading tone to the tonic.
For example, the harmonization of a descending scale with the strict alternation of 1-5-8-10 and 1-3-5-8 voicings generates the traditional voice leading of the descending thirds sequence that famously forms the basis of Johann Pachelbel's Canon in D; this sequence can be seen in the hypothetical falsobordone example provided above (in the section “Construction and Relationship to Fauxbourdon”).