All Questions
Tagged with figured-bass notation
21 questions
4
votes
1
answer
146
views
What does an isolated dash mean in figured bass?
(Note that these do not seem to be the same as the isolated lines discussed in What does an isolated horizontal dash mean in figured bass notation)
I am trying to work with a figured bass score that ...
- 193
5
votes
2
answers
281
views
Figured Bass Standalone Accidentals
I'm wondering whether or not standalone accidentals always imply 3rds in figured bass notation.
Is (5)(♭)(8) the same as (5)(3♭)(8)?
Is (9)(♮) the same as (9)(3)?
Can a figure 3 always be inserted ...
- 53
4
votes
3
answers
242
views
Figured Bass Notation
I am wondering if there are better ways to remember the figured bass. I'm having trouble remembering all of the inversions for triads and sevenths, and I've been trying to memorize them for a few ...
- 41
5
votes
1
answer
237
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Help understanding basso continuo in Vivaldi's 'La Folia'
This piece by Vivaldi is shown in the score to be notated for 3 voices. However in performances, there are 4 instruments played: 2 violins, cello and keyboard. The keyboard, along with playing the ...
- 233
2
votes
2
answers
655
views
How to write a double sharp in a figured bass symbol
Here is an image of the exercise I am doing. I'm supposed to write the figured bass symbol underneath the chord label but I am not sure if this is right. I just put a double sharp next to the 3. Can ...
user35708
4
votes
1
answer
186
views
What does a "2" on top of a figured bass exercise mean?
Here is a pic from my textbook, Adwell/Schachter's Tonal Harmony. It tells me what the soprano should be in the figured bass but there is a 2 next to both notes. What does that mean?
user35708
11
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Function of augmented-fifth in figured bass
What is the harmonic function of the 5+ in the figured bass in the following snippet?
If I have interpreted the figuring correctly, a F♯ figured 5+ should realise the triad F♯ A C𝄪. I am confused ...
- 111
1
vote
2
answers
92
views
Is this the correct numeral for the given bass?
Pardon me, I'm pretty new on the whole "part writing from figured bass".
Based on what I know, I believe that a 6th means 1st inversion? (correct me if I'm wrong)
However, here's what I don'...
- 269
3
votes
2
answers
193
views
What does a prime mean in figured bass?
What does a prime symbol after a bass figure mean? For example 6' or 6 4' 2?
I came across this in a 1956 edition of J.S. Bach's BWV 1035, by Otto Heinrich Noetzel. Looking at the written right hand, ...
- 165
3
votes
2
answers
643
views
How do you figure an accented passing note in the bass?
How do you figure an accented passing note in the bass, specifically when the harmony changes?
If you have non-chord tones in the bass following a figuring, it's easy to show the same harmony ...
- 21.7k
1
vote
1
answer
101
views
LilyPond: Figured bass help - Vertical figure order with bass figure extenders on
I'm having a bit of trouble obtaining the desired result in the following example:
\version "2.18.2"
<<
\relative c' {
e2 e,
}
\figuremode {
\bassFigureExtendersOn
...
- 177
1
vote
2
answers
124
views
understanding schematic analysis notation
What do the numbers above and below the staffs represent? I was assuming that the white-circled numbers under the bass parts were the thoroughbass and that the black-circled numbers above were the ...
- 1,406
6
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What does an isolated horizontal dash mean in figured bass notation
Here you see a fragment from Francesco Geminiani's Guida Armonica (ca. 1752), a sort of 'dictionary' or catalogue of figured bass snippets. My question is, what do the isolated horizontal dashes mean ...
- 2,357
4
votes
4
answers
1k
views
5/7b in figured bass
What does 5/7b mean in figured bass?
If it is just a 7th chord in root position, then why is it not just 7b?
In other places in the same score, 7 or 7b are used to denote a 7th chord.
Here is the ...
- 641
4
votes
2
answers
166
views
Figured bass and ties
How does one play figured bass when the bass line contains ties?
For example, here are the first three measures of Vivaldi's "Filiae maestae Jerusalem" (sheet music source).
Do I understand ...
- 641
4
votes
1
answer
544
views
How writing a dominant 7 sus4 chord in RNA ( Vsus7 chord in the 1st inversion) [duplicate]
Maybe I’ve just a black out. But I wanted to notate a V7sus (inversion 1) writing a dominant 7 without the suspension of the 4th in RNA. No idea ...
g,c,d,f => c,d,f,g
- 26.1k
5
votes
2
answers
515
views
Meaning of numbers under bass line in BWV 51 mvt.3 (maybe chords?)
Natalie Dessay performs Bach's very beautiful Aria "Höchster, mache deine Güte" (A minor) in these two videos
(only the sound and the score)
...
- 225
3
votes
1
answer
472
views
Extra accidents in Roman Numeral analysis in Modulation by Max Reger
I've been thumbing though Modulation by Max Reger and while he explains most of his notation, there is one thing about the figured bass in his Roman Numeral analysis that bothers me. For example, in ...
Dom♦
- 48k
9
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Did J.S. Bach write the figured bass in scores or continuo parts?
This full score for Bach's St. Matthew Passion helpfully has the figured bass written below the continuo part. I found this particularly illuminating, as it helped me to see the harmonic movement ...
- 21.7k
8
votes
2
answers
544
views
What is the basso continuo numbering of the inversions of a dominant seventh chord?
Consider for instance the following chord (C7) :
C E G Bb
E G Bb C
G Bb C E
Bb C E G
How can I number these inversions? I remember it was something with a '+'.
- 1,607
4
votes
2
answers
419
views
Modern convention for writing raised sixth in figured bass?
In typesetting figured bass for modern readers, what is the preferred way of indicating a raised sixth?
I'm under the impression that the backslash approach is considered archaic, but unsure about ...
- 17.9k