ground bass

American  

[beys] / beɪs /

noun

Music.

1. a short fundamental bass part continually repeated throughout a movement.

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ground bass British  

/ beɪs /

noun

1. music a short melodic bass line that is repeated over and over again

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Etymology

Origin of ground bass

First recorded in 1690–1700

Example Sentences

Yet Johnson’s overall sprightliness covers a ground bass of melancholy and lament.

From Washington Post • Jul. 22, 2020

The Baroque chaconne used a recurring element, often a ground bass, as a hook for variations.

From New York Times • Jan. 27, 2013

The author is above all a psychologist, and many of her stories bypass the racial issue�though that dark ground bass can be felt even when it is not heard.

From Time Magazine Archive

But the raucous swallows, the woman’s droning commands, the ground bass of the machinery mesmerized her.

From "The Devil's Arithmetic" by Jane Yolen

The main characteristic of the bag-pipe is the drone ground bass which sounds without intermission.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 "Baconthorpe" to "Bankruptcy" by Various