[Listening extract audio not available in printed QP] Numbers are written below the bass line to indicate the chords to be played above each note. What nota...
Question 1 Report
[Listening extract audio not available in printed QP]
Numbers are written below the bass line to indicate the chords to be played above each note. What notation is this system. [1]
Answer Details
The correct answer is figured bass. [1]
Figured bass is a system of musical notation used throughout the Baroque period in which numbers (figures) are written beneath the bass line to indicate the intervals and chords that should be played above each bass note. The keyboard player (typically on harpsichord or organ) reads these numbers and "realises" them by filling in the appropriate chords. For example, the figure "6" beneath a bass note indicates a first-inversion chord (the note a sixth above the bass should be included), while "6/4" indicates a second inversion. No figures beneath a note typically implies a root-position triad (5/3). This system gave Baroque performers creative freedom in how they voiced the chords and added passing notes, making each performance slightly different. Figured bass is fundamental to the continuo practice that underpins virtually all Baroque ensemble music.
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