figured bass

[ beys ]

nounMusic.
  1. a bass part in which the notes have numbers under them indicating the chords to be played.

Origin of figured bass

1
First recorded in 1795–1805

Words 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).

  • During the seventeenth century, sonatas were written for various instruments, with a figured bass for the cembalo.

    The Pianoforte Sonata | J.S. Shedlock
  • Viadana is said to have been the first to use what is called a basso continuo, and even the figured bass.

  • Instead of the national game the class was wrestling with figured bass and the art of descant, and again it groaned aloud.

    Old Fogy | James Huneker
  • Likewise the notation of a Chorale with a figured bass should not be omitted.

British Dictionary definitions for figured bass

figured bass

/ (beɪs) /


noun
  1. 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