Figured bass is a coded, shorthand method of musical notation for a musical composition’s lower bass section. It is based on the musician’s technical understanding of how harmonic chords are formed by the intervals, or distances, between pitches. One of the most important structural backbones of music is chord progression, which is defined as the combined sound of two or more musical notes. Because there is no detailed notation in figured bass, the musician must improvise support for the melody and upper treble sections of a composition.
The notation technique was widely used during the Baroque period of music, which spanned 1600 to 1760 and featured composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, who specialized in music for virtuoso solo instruments. It was dubbed “basso continuo” in Italian, which means “continuous bass.” In English, “thoroughbass” is another term for figured bass. In a Baroque composition, the continuo usually consisted of a group of unidentified instruments that provided back-up bass music to featured soloists. The names of stringed guitar chords and the notations of academic music theory are remnants of this archaic system of notation, which is rarely seen in modern sheet music.
The musical scale is made up of seven repeating intervals — C-D-E-F-G-A-B — plus half-tones between them, which are represented on a piano by the familiar black key pattern. In root position, a major chord is made up of any note designated as the first interval and its third and fifth intervals. A C-major chord is C+E+G if the letters are counted as numbers. The scale repeats, allowing E+G+C — a first, plus its third and sixth intervals — to be played. In its first inversion position, this chord is known as a C-major chord.
These numeric values for intervals are used in the shorthand code for figured bass in sheet music. The five lines and four spaces of the traditional bass staff are written as a simple sequence of single notes, but they are annotated with numbers to designate compatible intervals. 1st inversion is defined by a note accompanied by the number 6. In the case of C-major, the notation 6/4 denotes 2nd inversion position — a note plus its fourth and sixth intervals, or G+C+E. Accidental marks — sharps, flats, and naturals — denote half-tone adjustments to an interval, resulting in minor or augmented chords like C+E-flat+G for C-minor.
The purpose of a bass section is to provide accompaniment to most pieces of music. Melodies are given choral harmony by it. Walking, striding, marching, or punctuated rhythms are examples. It is completely variable and dependent on the desired effect, as well as the tone and style of music. Many musicians prefer shorthand notation of chord structures and progressions to play for the intended effect by feel rather than a difficult note-by-note transcription of sheet music.
The basic technique of notation with figured bass is also appreciated by musicians of instruments that can play a chord in different fingered patterns. Numeric translation, as in the case of a piano, often comes naturally from early learning — thumb, first finger, second, and so on. To indicate inversion positions and additional or subtractive intervals, guitar chords have numeric and accidental assignments to their names. To analyze chord progressions, traditional notation for academics of music theory uses a combination of roman numerals and integers.