alberti bass pattern
The ubiquitous left-hand keyboard accompaniment pattern of low-high-middle-high notes, named after Domenico Alberti, that defines the texture of Classical-era piano music.
In Depth
Domenico Alberti, the pattern's namesake, was such an obscure composer that almost none of his music survives — his only claim to immortality is a left-hand pattern that he used but almost certainly did not invent.
Related Terms
More in Techniques
Browse allSinging without instrumental accompaniment, with voices providing all musical parts.
The musical background that supports a solo melody or voice.
At the performer's discretion — an instruction allowing freedom in tempo, ornamentation, or inclusion.
An accent created by slightly lengthening a note rather than playing it louder, using duration rather than volume to create emphasis.
A left-hand keyboard accompaniment pattern that breaks a chord into a repeated sequence of low-high-middle-high notes, creating a gentle, flowing texture.
A broken-chord accompaniment pattern in which the notes of a chord are played in the order lowest-highest-middle-highest
A guitar picking technique that strictly alternates between downstrokes and upstrokes.
A direction to resume playing with the bow after a pizzicato passage on a string instrument