Figured Bass

Figured bass, or thoroughbass, is a kind of musical notation in which numerals and symbols indicate intervals, chords, and non-chord tones, in relation to the bass note they are placed above or below. Figured bass is closely associated with basso continuo, a historically improvised accompaniment used in almost all genres of music in the Baroque period, though rarely in modern music.

Other systems for denoting or representing chordsinclude plain staff notation, used in classical music; Roman numerals, commonly used in harmonic analysis; macro symbols, sometimes used in modern musicology; and various names and symbols used in jazz and popular music.

A part notated with figured bass consists of a bass-line notated with notes on a musical staff plus added numbers and accidentals beneath the staff to indicate what intervals above the bass notes should be played, and therefore which inversions of which chords are to be played. The phrase tasto solo indicates that only the bass line (without any upper chords) is to be played for a short period, usually until the next figure is encountered.

Composers were inconsistent in the usages described below. Especially in the 17th century, the numbers were omitted whenever the composer thought the chord was obvious. Early composers such as Claudio Monteverdi often specified the octave by the use of compound intervals such as 10, 11, and 15.

Contemporary figured bass may be summarized as follows:

For diatonic triads:

• • root position = blank or 5

  • 3

  • 1st Inversion = 6 or 6

  • 3

  • 2nd Inversion = 6

  • 4

For 7th chords:

• • root position = 7

  • 1st Inversion = 6

  • 5

  • 2nd Inversion = 4

  • 3

  • 3rd Inversion = 2 or 4

  • 2

C Major Inversions: