figured bass
a bass part in which the notes have numbers under them indicating the chords to be played.
Origin of figured bass
1Words Nearby figured bass
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use figured bass in a sentence
This volume forms a key to "Exercises in figured bass" by the same author (see above).
The Influence of the Organ in History | Dudley BuckDuring the seventeenth century, sonatas were written for various instruments, with a figured bass for the cembalo.
The Pianoforte Sonata | J.S. ShedlockViadana is said to have been the first to use what is called a basso continuo, and even the figured bass.
Critical & Historical Essays | Edward MacDowellInstead of the national game the class was wrestling with figured bass and the art of descant, and again it groaned aloud.
Old Fogy | James HunekerLikewise the notation of a Chorale with a figured bass should not be omitted.
Musical Myths and Facts, Volume I (of 2) | Carl Engel
British Dictionary definitions for figured bass
/ (beɪs) /
a shorthand method of indicating a thorough-bass part in which each bass note is accompanied by figures indicating the intervals to be played in the chord above it in the realization
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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