thorough bass

American  

[beys] / beɪs /

noun

Music.

1. figured bass.

2. continuo.

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thorough bass British  

/ beɪs /

noun

1. 1. Also called: basso continuo.   continuo.  (esp during the baroque period) a bass part underlying a piece of concerted music. It is played on a keyboard instrument, usually supported by a cello, viola da gamba, etc See also figured bass

   2. ( as modifier )

      a thorough-bass part

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Etymology

Origin of thorough bass

First recorded in 1655–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

thorough 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

It was then decided he should go to the parish choir master, Holzer, to learn piano, violin, organ, singing and thorough bass.

From The World's Great Men of Music Story-Lives of Master Musicians by Brower, Harriette

It would be impossible to omit the name of Handel, the great thorough bass of musical composition, to whom Mozart confessed that every subsequent composer had been signally indebted.

From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 17, No. 473, January 29, 1831 by Various

Only sometimes the thorough bass I contrive to guess at, from its being supereminently harsh and disagreeable.

From The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 2 Elia and The Last Essays of Elia by Lamb, Charles

I ought also to mention that Herr Drechsler is the unsalaried professor of thorough bass at St. Anna's, and has been so for the last ten years.

From Beethoven's Letters 1790-1826, Volume 2 by Nohl, Ludwig