Figured bass
The figured bass model of the Baroque.
What it means
Figured bass (German Generalbass, “thoroughbass”) is a way of writing and notating in which only the bass part is written out, provided with figures that indicate the harmonies to be played above it. The execution of the chords is left to the player.
In the notation
The figures stand under the bass note and count the intervals above it. If a figure is missing, a triad in root position is meant; 6 stands for the first-inversion chord, 6/4 for the second-inversion chord, 7 for the seventh chord with the inversions 6/5, 4/3, and 2. Accidentals next to a figure alter the note concerned, an accidental alone refers to the third. Sequences of figures such as 4–3 indicate suspensions.
Musical use
From the early seventeenth to the late eighteenth century, figured bass was the basis of almost all ensemble music, and the whole epoch is therefore occasionally called the figured-bass age. With it thinking about music changed fundamentally: in place of voices of equal rank came a texture of upper voice and bass with filling chords, and the sonority became an independent quantity. The harmony theory of later times emerged from this thinking.
At the same time, figured bass was a school. Whoever mastered it could at the instrument design, accompany, and improvise a piece; textbooks of the time treat it as the basis of composition. This connection of theory and playing was later largely lost.
Other names
Basso continuo, shortened continuo, is the Italian designation of the same practice. Continuo is also often used to designate the group of executing instruments, for instance harpsichord or organ together with cello, bassoon, or lute. The word stresses the uninterruptedly running bass, whereas Generalbass (thoroughbass) refers to the general foundation valid for all voices.
Performance practice
Read the figures as distances from the bass, not as grip patterns. Begin in three parts in close position, move the hand as little as possible, and leave room for the upper voice. And practise figured bass even without an ensemble: it sharpens harmonic thinking for any repertoire.