The BASS-ics Of FIGURED BASS For Modern Musicians

[@violinjourney9585]

I googled figured bass, and by far this has been the clearest explanation. Thank you so much!!

[@UnitedEffect]

Figured bass explained clearly and all in one place. Thanks!

[@jonathanwingmusic]

Figured bass is super underrated and so often viewed as an archaic tool for baroque composers... but I actually use it in my modern writing and lead sheets - it's an even faster way to quickly sketch out a rough bass line and I can write the intervals I want above it or to remind myself to invert it. Just a really nice shorthand. I also like that it forces you to think more about intervallic relationships than blocks of complete chords, just as many composers used to, which also gets you out of the mindset of viewing chords in an exact voicing formula (since figured bass intervals don't tell you how to voice the intervals in an exact order, just as long as those intervals appear somewhere in your voicing). It can also be an easier and less convoluted way of showing complex alterations and resolutions simply by just showing what intervals you want to alter above the bass rather than wacky parenthetical slash chord alterations haha. There's of course a time and place for writing out chords in the modern way, and I still do. I just love F.B. and think it's a rather useful shorthand that people are sleeping on! ;)

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

YES! I agree with every single word. In addition, I found it's an interesting tool for harmonic improvisation (write a bass line, add figures, improvise the exact voice of the harmony). For some reason (to me) it seems more "natural" than chord notation.

[@jonathanwingmusic]

@@MusicTheoryForGuitar "it's an interesting tool for harmonic improvisation (write a bass line, add figures, improvise the exact voice of the harmony)" yes, I have recently started a book called Art of Partimento, have you heard of it? I'm only on the first chapter so I don't know much about it yet, but in summary it seems Partimento was the baroque and Italian tradition of improvising over figured bass. It's very interesting to realize that there was a pre-classical era when musicians actually improvised and reharmonized based on "standards" in the repertoire, not unlike jazz artists today with their Fake Book lead sheets etc. ;) Anyway I am looking forward to putting figured bass into my imrovisational practice too!

[@SirWhiteRabbit-gr5so]

Understanding Figured Bass is fundamental to understanding 17th-c, 18th-c Partimento and Improvisation.

[@gravelordkyle]

Great lesson. I've been looking into figured bass recently because I've realized that, being almost entirely self-taught in theory, it was always much easier for me to just think about the bass than think about all different kinds of inversions and extensions.

[@patrickcaldwell7626]

nice explanation :) especially for jazz musicians..

[@GuitarBasement]

Orrrsome! Verrry clear explanation. Thanks for making this.

[@randydean23]

Excellent lesson!!!!

[@LennyYoutubeMusic]

Great video ! Thank you

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

This is fascinating! And regardless of whether or not I ever use it, it's good to think about intervals from a different angle.

[@TheMaartian]

Really interesting! With a really well-done explanation. Liked. Bookmarked. Saved to my Songwriting folder. 👍 BTW, I'm a bassist first and pianist second.

[@SirWhiteRabbit-gr5so]

Music theory is always catching-up with music practice.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

That's not really how it works.

[@EddieMetal68]

I can understand the concept of chord invertions and it makes sense to me. But, just like a magic trick it's easy when someone reveals the trick. It's almost impossible to me to identify an inverted chord by myself.

[@LennyYoutubeMusic]

Hi Tommaso, I have a question : I’m into 2 part counterpoint in 1st species (so two notes played at the same time) and i struggle to make it sound a bit like harmony. It just sound like a random third and sixth intervals progression. How can I make this type of counterpoint more like an harmonic idea where we can hear chord progression implied ? Thank you 🙏

[@christopherheckman7957]

2-note chords have ambiguous harmony. When you have a 4th or a 5th, then there's only one choice for the third note if you want to stay in key. If you have a 3rd or a 6th, you have two. So one rule of thumb would be to not have too many 3rds and 6ths. If you want a harmonic progression, you really need to plan for a third note, even though it won't show up in the final piece. Another strategy might be to harmonize the original line with triads and then pick one note from each chord, so that the Counterpoint rules are obeyed. The harmonization would be based on a table that tells you "if you play this chord, then the next chord should be one of these," and then end on V7-I for the last two notes. (These tables can be found in many places; one commonly-used table appears in Walter Piston's _Harmony_.) The second strategy seems to have similarities with doing/creating crossword puzzles.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Hi Lenny. There is more than one strategy, but none that is easy to explain in a few lines. With a lot of handwaving: in "traditional" counterpoint, it all starts by writing a cantus firmus that actually can support a good "chord progression" (of course, in traditional counterpoint you are NOT thinking of chords per se...). For a more modern approach, it would start by thinking of a chord progression FIRST, and THEN writing the melody and the counterpoint.

[@LennyYoutubeMusic]

@@MusicTheoryForGuitar okay thank you 🙏

[@jonathanwingmusic]

I would add that it's ok to completely accept that what you describe is exactly what 2-part 1st species counterpoint will sound like- so you're doing it right. It's important to remember species counterpoint was primarily a pedagogical tool, so when you're getting started, especially with limited voices and movement, I wouldn't worry about it sounding like complete harmony, since that is besides the point. With 2-part 1st species, the primary point is understand how to work with intervals and at this stage you basically avoid dissonance. As a result, a vast majority of the more satisfying intervals will be imperfect consonance which are basically diatonic 3rds and 6ths. When you get comfortable with it, and perhaps you already are, you can then move through the different species which will introduce additional rhythms, and by the time you get to 4th species you can introduce dissonance, 5th species opens you up to a mixture of all including florid ornamentation. Once you feel comfortable with all that, you can then begin to apply all of that using 3 and then 4-part harmony. That is where the real fun begins, because you are able to start using complete triads and seventh chords, as well as suspensions and inversions. TLDR; - Don't sweat trying to make 2-part 1st species musical because it's really just a learning tool to build up your foundation of harmony. Once you get to 3 & 4 part your questions will be answered. Hope that helps! :)

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

2 Voice counterpoint IS a teaching tool... AND is also a compositional tool (of course one has to go beyond the first species...). It IS possible to make it sound good and like a "complete" piece. Jonathan makes good points (that I do not disagree with) I just want to make sure that we don't discount 2 voice counterpoints as a "serious" tool for composition.