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Available in 32 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-32" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">32 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-af mw-list-item"><a href="https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basso_continuo" title="Basso continuo – Afrikaans" lang="af" hreflang="af" data-title="Basso continuo" data-language-autonym="Afrikaans" data-language-local-name="Afrikaans" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Afrikaans</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-als mw-list-item"><a href="https://als.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalbass" title="Generalbass – Alemannic" lang="gsw" hreflang="gsw" data-title="Generalbass" data-language-autonym="Alemannisch" data-language-local-name="Alemannic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Alemannisch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baix_continu" title="Baix continu – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="Baix continu" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basso_continuo" title="Basso continuo – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Basso continuo" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-da mw-list-item"><a href="https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalbas" title="Generalbas – Danish" lang="da" hreflang="da" data-title="Generalbas" data-language-autonym="Dansk" data-language-local-name="Danish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Dansk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalbass" title="Generalbass – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Generalbass" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-et mw-list-item"><a href="https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generaalbass" title="Generaalbass – Estonian" lang="et" hreflang="et" data-title="Generaalbass" data-language-autonym="Eesti" data-language-local-name="Estonian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Eesti</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-en mw-list-item"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basso_continuo" title="Basso continuo – English" lang="en" hreflang="en" data-title="Basso continuo" data-language-autonym="English" data-language-local-name="English" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>English</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajo_continuo" title="Bajo continuo – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Bajo continuo" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eo badge-Q17437796 badge-featuredarticle mw-list-item" title="featured article badge"><a href="https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figurita_baso" title="Figurita baso – Esperanto" lang="eo" hreflang="eo" data-title="Figurita baso" data-language-autonym="Esperanto" data-language-local-name="Esperanto" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Esperanto</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%88_%DA%A9%D9%86%D8%AA%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%88%D8%A6%D9%88" title="باسو کنتینوئو – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="باسو کنتینوئو" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basse_continue" title="Basse continue – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Basse continue" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ga mw-list-item"><a href="https://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuo" title="Continuo – Irish" lang="ga" hreflang="ga" data-title="Continuo" data-language-autonym="Gaeilge" data-language-local-name="Irish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Gaeilge</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-gl mw-list-item"><a href="https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baixo_continuo" title="Baixo continuo – Galician" lang="gl" hreflang="gl" data-title="Baixo continuo" data-language-autonym="Galego" data-language-local-name="Galician" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Galego</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hy mw-list-item"><a href="https://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D4%B3%D5%A5%D5%B6%D5%A5%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%AC-%D4%B2%D5%A1%D5%BD" title="Գեներալ-Բաս – Armenian" lang="hy" hreflang="hy" data-title="Գեներալ-Բաս" data-language-autonym="Հայերեն" data-language-local-name="Armenian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Հայերեն</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hr mw-list-item"><a href="https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generalbas" title="Generalbas – Croatian" lang="hr" hreflang="hr" data-title="Generalbas" data-language-autonym="Hrvatski" data-language-local-name="Croatian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Hrvatski</span></a></li><li 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href="/wiki/File:Figured_Bass.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Figured_Bass.png/250px-Figured_Bass.png" decoding="async" width="250" height="154" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Figured_Bass.png/375px-Figured_Bass.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Figured_Bass.png/500px-Figured_Bass.png 2x" data-file-width="513" data-file-height="317" /></a><figcaption>An example of figured bass: only the bass part (left hand) with the figures would be written. The chords in the right hand show how it might be played. The figures give the intervals from the bass note up. If no figure is given the chord is a 5 3 chord (an ordinary <a href="/wiki/Chord" title="Chord">triad</a>)</figcaption></figure> <p><b>Basso continuo</b> is a form of musical <a href="/wiki/Accompaniment_(music)" class="mw-redirect" title="Accompaniment (music)">accompaniment</a> used in the <a href="/wiki/Baroque_music" title="Baroque music">Baroque period</a>. It means "continuous bass".<sup id="cite_ref-ammer_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ammer-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Basso continuo, sometimes just called "continuo", was played by an instrument providing chordal accompaniment such as a <a href="/wiki/Keyboard_instrument" title="Keyboard instrument">keyboard instrument</a> or plucked string instrument such as the lute along with another bass instrument such as <a href="/wiki/Cello" title="Cello">cello</a>, <a href="/wiki/Violone" title="Violone">violone</a>, or <a href="/wiki/Bassoon" title="Bassoon">bassoon</a>. The keyboard instrument was normally a <a href="/wiki/Harpsichord" title="Harpsichord">harpsichord</a> but could also be an <a href="/wiki/Organ_(music)" title="Organ (music)">organ</a>, such as a small portative instrument. </p><p>It was not usual to write out all the notes for the keyboard player.<sup id="cite_ref-ammer_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ammer-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The composer normally just wrote the bass line which would be played by the left hand and doubled on the other bass instrument. The composer would indicate what the <a href="/wiki/Harmony" title="Harmony">harmony</a> should be (which chords should be played) by writing figures underneath the music. </p><p><br /> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Examples">Examples</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Basso_continuo&veaction=edit&section=1" title="Change section: Examples" class="mw-editsection-visualeditor"><span>change</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-divider"> | </span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Basso_continuo&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section's source code: Examples"><span>change source</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul class="gallery mw-gallery-traditional"> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 150px; height: 150px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><span><audio id="mwe_player_0" controls="" preload="none" data-mw-tmh="" class="mw-file-element" width="120" style="width:120px;" data-durationhint="601" data-mwtitle="Penelope_-_Di_misera_regina.ogg" data-mwprovider="wikimediacommons"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Penelope_-_Di_misera_regina.ogg" type="audio/ogg; codecs="vorbis"" data-width="0" data-height="0" /><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8f/Penelope_-_Di_misera_regina.ogg/Penelope_-_Di_misera_regina.ogg.mp3" type="audio/mpeg" data-transcodekey="mp3" data-width="0" data-height="0" /></audio></span></span></div> <div class="gallerytext"><a href="/wiki/Claudio_Monteverdi" title="Claudio Monteverdi">Claudio Monteverdi</a>:<br /><i>Di misera, regina</i> from<br /><i>Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria</i></div> </li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 150px; height: 150px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><span><audio id="mwe_player_1" controls="" preload="none" data-mw-tmh="" class="mw-file-element" width="120" style="width:120px;" data-durationhint="516" data-mwtitle="Carl_Philipp_Emanuel_Bach_-_Sonata_in_Bb_major.ogg" data-mwprovider="wikimediacommons"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/Carl_Philipp_Emanuel_Bach_-_Sonata_in_Bb_major.ogg" type="audio/ogg; codecs="vorbis"" data-width="0" data-height="0" /><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/7/7f/Carl_Philipp_Emanuel_Bach_-_Sonata_in_Bb_major.ogg/Carl_Philipp_Emanuel_Bach_-_Sonata_in_Bb_major.ogg.mp3" type="audio/mpeg" data-transcodekey="mp3" data-width="0" data-height="0" /></audio></span></span></div> <div class="gallerytext"><a href="/wiki/Carl_Philipp_Emanuel_Bach" title="Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach">C. P. E. Bach</a>: <a href="/wiki/Sonata" title="Sonata">Sonata</a> for flute & b. c. B-flat Wq. 125</div> </li> <li class="gallerybox" style="width: 155px"> <div class="thumb" style="width: 150px; height: 150px;"><span typeof="mw:File"><span><audio id="mwe_player_2" controls="" preload="none" data-mw-tmh="" class="mw-file-element" width="120" style="width:120px;" data-durationhint="145" data-mwtitle="Lully_Le_Bourgeois_Gentilhomme_-_08._Air_des_Espagnoles.ogg" data-mwprovider="wikimediacommons"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/04/Lully_Le_Bourgeois_Gentilhomme_-_08._Air_des_Espagnoles.ogg/Lully_Le_Bourgeois_Gentilhomme_-_08._Air_des_Espagnoles.ogg.mp3" type="audio/mpeg" data-transcodekey="mp3" data-width="0" data-height="0" /><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Lully_Le_Bourgeois_Gentilhomme_-_08._Air_des_Espagnoles.ogg" type="audio/ogg; codecs="vorbis"" data-width="0" data-height="0" /></audio></span></span></div> <div class="gallerytext"><a href="/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Lully" title="Jean-Baptiste Lully">J. B. Lully</a>:<br /><i>Air des Espagnoles</i> from<br /><i>Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme</i></div> </li> </ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Basso_continuo&veaction=edit&section=2" title="Change section: References" class="mw-editsection-visualeditor"><span>change</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-divider"> | </span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Basso_continuo&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section's source code: References"><span>change source</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r9724317">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-ammer-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">↑ <sup><a href="#cite_ref-ammer_1-0">1.0</a></sup> <sup><a href="#cite_ref-ammer_1-1">1.1</a></sup></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r9724332">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFAmmer2004" class="citation book cs1">Ammer, Christine (2004). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=sneYoAFYXqsC&dq=facts+basso+continuo&pg=PA91"><i>Basso continuo</i></a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781438130095" title="Special:BookSources/9781438130095"><bdi>9781438130095</bdi></a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">31 March</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Basso+continuo&rft.date=2004&rft.isbn=9781438130095&rft.aulast=Ammer&rft.aufirst=Christine&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DsneYoAFYXqsC%26dq%3Dfacts%2Bbasso%2Bcontinuo%26pg%3DPA91&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsimple.wikipedia.org%3ABasso+continuo" class="Z3988"></span> <span class="cs1-visible-error citation-comment"><code class="cs1-code">{{<a href="/wiki/Template:Cite_book" title="Template:Cite book">cite book</a>}}</code>: </span><span class="cs1-visible-error citation-comment"><code class="cs1-code">|work=</code> ignored (<a href="/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#periodical_ignored" title="Help:CS1 errors">help</a>)</span></span> </li> </ol></div></div>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?useformat=desktop&type=1x1&usesul3=0" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Basso_continuo&oldid=8949544">https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Basso_continuo&oldid=8949544</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Special:Categories" title="Special:Categories">Category</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Classical_music" title="Category:Classical music">Classical music</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden categories: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Pages_using_the_JsonConfig_extension" title="Category:Pages using the JsonConfig extension">Pages using the JsonConfig extension</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:CS1_errors:_periodical_ignored" title="Category:CS1 errors: periodical ignored">CS1 errors: periodical ignored</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last changed on 19 July 2023, at 14:51.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_GNU_Free_Documentation_License" title="Wikipedia:Text of the GNU Free Documentation License">GFDL</a>; additional terms may apply. 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