A Guide to Figured Bass

Figured Bass A GUIDE

What is Figured Bass?

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Figured Bass is the little numbers and accidentals written underneath the lower stave It is a method of composing It was invented in the Baroue period !"#$$%"&'$() In those da*s composers onl* wrote out a melod* and a bass line) +he melod* was pla*ed or sung b* a soloist and the bass line was usuall* pla*ed b* a ,e*board instrument such as the harpsichord or organ)  +he ,e*board pla*er had to do more than -ust pla* the bass line with their left hand) +he* had to improvise.  +he composer added small numbers underneath the bass line/ li,e a code/ which told the pla*er which chords to pla*)  +his code did not tell the pla*er e0actl* how to pla* the chords 1 for e0ample/ the* could choose to pla* the chords as solid chords/ bro,en chords or weave them into heavil*

Understanding Figured Bass Figured Bass is written underneath the bass line  +he numbers tell *ou what chord to pla* built up from the bass note and what inversion that chord is  +he most important thing to remember is that the bass line shows *ou the lowest note/ and that *ou must build up the chord upwards from that note) 8ever ever write a chord out which is lower than the given bass note Each number tells *ou the interval above the bass note which *ou need to write in order to create the chord)  +here are three main :gures *ou need to ,now; '%hromatic Alteration •

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Figured bass sometimes includes sharps/ ats or naturals) +he accidental is written ne0t to the :gure which it aCects) If the accidental is not ne0t to a :gure/ but -ust appears on its own/ then it alwa*s refers to the  3rd of the chord) For sharpen the @ !,e* sig() •

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sharpen the #th) +he chord notes will be >@/ F@ and A@)

Chromatic alteration is very common in minor keys, where the dominant chord has a sharpened third which does not