Table of Contents
What is Realising a figured bass?
“Realizing” a figured bass means “making it real” or, filling out the four-part harmony by adding a tenor, alto and soprano part.
How do you find the figured bass?
Figured bass is written underneath the bass line. (Sometimes a bass line with figures is called a “continuo”.) The numbers in figured bass tell you what chord to build up from the bass note, and in which inversion.
What do figured bass symbols represent?
Figured bass symbols indicate intervals above the bass. They come from the old practice of thorough bass: composers wrote bass line and figures. The part was played by the cello player and the keyboard (continuo) player who realized the chords, filling in the harmonies.
What does a 7 mean in figured bass?
A seventh chord in root position would be 7/5/3 if completely figured. In practice this is abbreviated to just “7.” A seventh chord in first inversion would be 6/5/3, and is abbreviated to 6/5. A seventh chord in second inversion would be 6/4/3, and is abbreviated to 4/3.
What does 6 mean in music theory?
This symbol should be interpreted as described above: the 6 means “triad, third in bass”, and the # sign means “raise the note a third above the bass one half step”. Thus, since the third of the chord is in the bass, the note being sharped (a third above the bass note) turns out to be to be the fifth of the chord.
What does a 5 mean in figured bass?
The fifth of the triad is represented by the number 5. A 1st-inversion triad is described as being in “six-three position” Here, the third of the triad is in the bass. The fifth of the triad is a 3rd above the bass (3).
What does a 9 mean in figured bass?
However, in figured bass only the typical triad is implied unless otherwise noted so just putting the 9 would make the harmony add9 instead of dominant 9. So yes it is telling you along with the typical triad built from the scale and there is also a 7th and 9th in the harmony.
What does a 3 mean in figured bass?
For example, the figured bass “3” can mean a 3rd, or a 10th or a 17th, etc. — the choice is up to the player. The same is true in reverse: if you wish to write a figured bass for a given chord, a 3rd, 10th, or 17th within that chord are all written as “3”.
What is a 6’5 inversion?
V6/5 is a first inversion, with the 3rd of the chord in the bass. The interval of a 6th would be the root of the chord, and the interval of the 5th would be the 7th. This is a 2nd inversion chord, with the 5th in the bass. In interval of a 4th refers to the root of the chord, and the 3rd is the 7th.
What is a 5 3 in music?
For example, a “5” and a “3” below a bass note would indicate that this bass should be the root of a triad (which contains the 5th and the 3rd above that bass note). But figured bass was usually further abbreviated; 5/3 being so common it was just assumed if not written.
What is the figured bass for root position?
The full figured bass for triadic inversions. As you can see in Example 4, a root position triad has a third and a fifth above the bass. A first inversion triad has a third and a sixth above the bass, while a second inversion triad has a fourth and a sixth above the bass.
What does a sharp by itself mean in figured bass?
If a sharp, flat, or natural appears alone in the figures, it tells you to alter the note a third above the bass as indicated. (.
Are 7th chords major or minor?
A dominant seventh chord, or major-minor seventh chord is a chord composed of a root, major third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh. It can be also viewed as a major triad with an additional minor seventh. It is denoted using popular music symbols by adding a superscript “7” after the letter designating the chord root.
What does a 4 2 MEAN IN figured bass?
Chords of the sixth that take the figure 6/4/2 (or its abbreviation 4/2 or simply 2) are third-inversion chords. Their root is a second, or a step, above the bass. The most common 4/2 chord has fa in the bass, and sol is its root, making its Roman numeral V.
Are parallel thirds allowed?
Parallel 3rds, 6ths, 4ths, and even tritones are all OK. Unisons (two parts sharing the same note) count as a kind of octave. Thus, these two instances are also bad. Sometimes students start to see parallels when there aren’t any, because they get confused as to which notes belong to which voice.
What does a 2 mean in figured bass?
Sometimes, other numbers are omitted: a 2 on its own or 4. 2 indicates. , for example. From the figured bass-writer’s perspective, this bass note is obviously a third inversion seventh chord, so the sixth interval is viewed as an interval that the player should automatically infer.
What is a 4 3 suspension?
4-3 suspension (plural 4-3 suspensions) A musical device, commonplace in the Western classical tradition, whereby a suspension is formed through a note a fourth above the bass which resolves to a third.
What does 64 mean in music?
So a “6-4” chord is when you have: An interval of a fourth above the bass. And an interval of a sixth above the bass.
What is a i6 4?
The Pedal or Neighboring six-four: With a pedal six-four, the bass stays on the same note for three chords in a row – the six-four chord is the middle chord of the three. The bass note is doubled in all three chords.
