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Figured Bass

A GUIDE

What is Figured Bass?

Figured Bass is the little numbers and accidentals written underneath the lower stave
It is a method of composing
It was invented in the Baroque period (1600-1750). In those days composers only wrote
out a melody and a bass line. The melody was played or sung by a soloist and the bass
line was usually played by a keyboard instrument such as the harpsichord or organ.
The keyboard player had to do more than just play the bass line with their left hand. They
had to improvise!
The composer added small numbers underneath the bass line, like a code, which told the
player which chords to play.
This code did not tell the player exactly how to play the chords for example, they could
choose to play the chords as solid chords, broken chords or weave them into heavily
decorated individual voice lines

Understanding Figured Bass


Figured Bass is written underneath the bass line
The numbers tell you what chord to play built up from the bass
note and what inversion that chord is
The most important thing to remember is that the bass line
shows you the lowest note, and that you must build up the
chord upwards from that note. Never ever write a chord out
which is lower than the given bass note
Each number tells you the interval above the bass note which
you need to write in order to create the chord.
There are three main figures you need to know: 5-3, 6-3 and 64

5-3 Chords
5-3 means ROOT POSITION chords

Look at the bass note (B). Add a note which is a fifth higher
(F#) and another which is a third higher (D). This makes a
root position chord: B-D-F#
The F# and D can occur in any octave, and if you are doing
four-part harmony one of the notes will need to be repeated.
If you see a bass note without any numbers it is a 5-3 or
root position chord

6-3 Chords
6-3 chords are first inversion chords.

The notes we need to write are a third and a sixth above the
bass note.
Here is a bass note C. We need to add a note a sixth higher
(A) and another a third higher than the bass (E). This gives
us the chord notes C-A-E, with C in the bass. It is an A minor
chord in first inversion, with a
doubled root.
6-3 chords are very common, they are usually
written as a lone 6 instead of a 6-3. The figure 6
means first inversion.

6-4 Chords
A 6-4 chord is a second inversion chord

The notes we need to write are a fourth and a sixth higher than
the bass note.
Here the bass note is C. The figured bass tells us to add F (a
fourth above C) and A (a sixth above C). The chord notes are CF-A, which is F major in second inversion.

6-4 chords are always figured in full - they are not missed out
or abbreviated like the 5-3 and 6-3 figures.

Chromatic Alteration
Figured bass sometimes includes sharps, flats or
naturals.The accidental is written next to the figure which
it affects.
If the accidental is not next to a figure, but just appears on
its own, then it always refers to the3rdof the chord. For
sharpen the 3rd. The chord notes will be F# (key sig), A#
example:
(accidental) and C# (key sig).

sharpen the 6th. The chord notes will be C#,


F# and A#.
Chromatic alteration is very common in minor keys, where
the dominant chord has a sharpened third which does not
appear in the key signature. For example in A minor, the
dominant chord is E major, with a G sharp accidental.

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