figured bass notation
A Baroque-era shorthand system using numbers below a bass line to indicate the chords to be improvised above it, the foundation of continuo playing.
In Depth
J.S. Bach could reportedly sight-read a figured bass line and improvise a fully voiced, harmonically rich realization in real time — a skill that even trained modern keyboardists find enormously challenging.
Related Terms
More in Theory
Browse allA sharp, flat, or natural sign that alters a note from the prevailing key signature.
Symbols placed before notes to raise or lower their pitch by a semitone or return them to their natural state
Relating to sound or the properties of sound, especially music produced without electronic amplification.
The natural minor scale, with the pattern W-H-W-W-H-W-W, producing the most common minor tonality in Western music.
Music in which some element of the composition is left to chance or to the performer's discretion.
The second-highest voice type, or an instrument pitched between soprano and tenor.
The measure of a sound wave's intensity, perceived as loudness or volume.
One or more notes before the first full bar of a piece, also called a pickup or upbeat.