figured bass

American  

[bays] / beɪs /

noun

Music.

1. a bass part in which the notes have numbers under them indicating the chords to be played.

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figured bass British  

/ beɪs /

noun

1. a shorthand method of indicating a thorough-bass part in which each bass note is accompanied by figures indicating the intervals to be played in the chord above it in the realization

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Etymology

Origin of figured bass

First recorded in 1795–1805

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

figured bass

Not fatigued by his radicalisation of both musical texture and technique, Corelli added another flourish to his work: a musical shorthand called figured bass, or thorough bass, inherited from Monteverdi and universally adopted after him.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Not content with merely taking part in her husband's works, she learned from him to play the clavier and read figured bass, and rendered him valuable aid by copying music for him.

From Woman's Work in Music by Arthur Elson

Viadana is said to have been the first to use what is called a basso continuo, and even the figured bass.

From Critical and Historical Essays Lectures delivered at Columbia University by W. J. (Winton James) Baltzell

During the seventeenth century, sonatas were written for various instruments, with a figured bass for the cembalo.

From The Pianoforte Sonata Its Origin and Development by J. S. (John South) Shedlock

The introduction to the work is a quiet, tender movement in sonata form, written for two flutes, two viol-da-gambas and figured bass, which gives out some of the themes in the middle of the cantata.

From The Standard Cantatas Their Stories, Their Music, and Their Composers by George P. (George Putnam) Upton

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