Figured Bass

4.0  Figured bass Realization

The era of the figured bass (or thorough bass) encompasses most music composed from 1600-1750, the period we know as the Baroque Era.  A large amount of music was written using figured bass, and in many ways the aesthetics of the basso continuo (if not the actual practice) is with us today.

4.1  What you need to know about figured bass

The principles behind figured bass composition and realization are actually very simple.  A bassline is given and intervals above the bass are added as specified by the numbers beneath the staff.  For example:

 

indicates that there are to be two pitches added above the bass (D): One a sixth (B) and the other a third (F).  Below are several possible realizations of the same symbol (remember that octave equivalence does apply--any sixth above the bass, whether it be a sixth or a sixth plus several octaves is still considred valid)::

 

As you can see, the actual realization of the figure allows for a great deal of flexibility. As long as the intervals requested are present (regardless of octave or doubling), success is reached. 

4.2 Additional points

In the typical figured bass exercise, the restrictions present regarding multipart composition (see section 2.0) are to be followed.  In other words, as you are adding the notes to the bassline, ensure that voice leading and parallel guidelines are followed.

4.3 Accidentals

In the case of the need for a pitch to be altered (sharped, flatted, or made natural), the symbol will appear before the number to be altered.  For example, #3 means that the third above the bass needs to be sharped, #9 means the ninth above the bass needs to be sharped, etc.

4.4 Shorthand

In the actual practice, many symbols are represented through shorthand or abbreviation.  Below is a short list of some of the most common abbreviations:

Symbol	Meaning	Abbreviation
5 3	A root position triad	Since this is such a common symbol, it is assumed that all bass pitches without a symbol use this one.
6 3	A chord of the sixth, or a first inversion triad	6
6 4	A chord of the sixth and fourth, a second inversion triad	Not abbreviated.
#3, b3	The third (is altered in some way (flat, sharp, or natural)	The symbol by itself: #  or b  or natural

 The musical example below should suffice to illustrate this. 

 

Each of the basslines above mean exactly the same thing.  Notice that the root position triads (the 5/3 chords) are assumed and are therefore left blank.  Thirds above the bass are also implied and the accidental means the third is chromatically altered (on the fourth and final chords).

Another tricky thing is when you will find a bassline with only a "7-6" beneath.  This almost always means that the triad is in the first inversion (the "6/3" is implied) and the figure (in this case "7") is a dissonance above the bass that resolves to the 6/3 chord.

4.5  Advanced Figures

Below are some unusual figurations.  Can you decipher them?

 

Keeping in mind the abbreviation system described above, each measure would look something like the following:

 

In this way you can see that the system can be very specific with respect to describing the motion above the bass.  On the other hand, it can be difficult to understand exactly what rhythmic values to use.  The first example could theoretically be interpreted as being a triplet (there are, after all, three distinct notes asked for in the bass) instead of the rhythmic notation given.  It is up to the performer to make these decisions.