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figured bass
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figured bass
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
figured bass in music, a system of shorthand notation in which figures are written below the notes of the bass part to indicate the chords to be played. Called also thorough bass and basso continuo, it arose in the early 17th cent. in Italy as a means of notating an accompaniment. It soon became so widespread that the baroque era is sometimes called the age of basso continuo. The harpsichord's part in sonatas was indicated by a figured bass, and the harpsichord and the organ are usually played from a figured bass in the vocal works of Bach and Handel. The realization of the basso continuo involves considerable improvisation, varying in style according to composer and period. Both Bach and Mozart wrote out rules for playing the figured bass. After the time of Bach, with the development of the symphony, the figured bass disappeared except for limited use in opera and as a device for teaching harmony.
Bibliography: See F. T. Arnold, The Art of Accompaniment from a Thorough-Bass (1931, repr. 1965); H. Keller, Thoroughbass Method (tr. by C. Parrish, 1965).
Author not available, FIGURED BASS.,
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008
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figured bass
figured bass. See basso continuo .
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thorough bass
thorough bass see figured bass . Author not available, THOROUGH BASS. , The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008
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basso continuo
basso continuo (It.). Continuous bass. Figured bass from which in concerted mus. of the 17th and 18th cents. the cembalist or organist played...continuo ’ does not mean to play a particular instr., but to play this variety of bass.
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additional accompaniments
...for mus. of the early masters, where perhaps only a figured bass is provided in the original. An extravagant example...occasion when no organ was available to provide the figured bass used in perf. of Handel's own time.
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tasto
tasto, tasti (It.). 1. Key(s) (i.e. of kbd. instr.). In early mus. with figured bass, tasto solo means ‘Play the key alone’, i.e. only the bass line, without adding chords. 2. The fingerboard of a bowed str. instr...
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