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

Who would do so better than his old professor of thorough bass and composition, Carl Zelter, the director of the Berlin Singakademie.

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

"Yes, yes, then they are amazed and put their heads together because they never found it in any book on thorough bass."

From Beethoven, the Man and the Artist, as Revealed in His Own Words by Krehbiel, Henry Edward

The thorough bass of the dear master has simplified all that.

From Diderot and the Encyclopædists Volume II. by Morley, John

"Well, she's not a duffer at thorough bass anyway," Rosa put in.

From The Beth Book Being a Study of the Life of Elizabeth Caldwell Maclure, a Woman of Genius by Grand, Sarah