Even many musicians haven’t heard of figured bass. Also called

basso continuo, a simple explanation of the term is a short way to

note chords on a musical score. If you have never heard of it, it’s

most likely because the method isn’t used today. However, it could

be considered akin to, or a precursor of, a modern chord chart.

Figured bass originated in the Baroque era of the17th and 18th

century. Music has evolved over the centuries and still does today.

The development of figured bass came in response to one of these

early musical style evolutions. The Baroque music period came on the

heels of the Renaissance period. Music from the Renaissance was

generally characterized by its reliance upon intervals of thirds. Of

course, musical trends evolve over a period of time. For this

reason, it’s difficult to pinpoint an exact year when this trend

shifted. Usually a new musical era is well under way before anyone

realizes there has been a change. Modal characteristics of

Renaissance music eventually gave way to more tonal music. The

defining characteristic of tonal music is its use of fifths. This is

in contrast to the previous intervals of thirds. This led the way

for Baroque style music.

Composers and musicians in this period began using more elaborate

instrumentation during the Baroque period. New musical instruments

were being developed that contributed to the trend. Many of them had

wider range capabilities, allowing for more variety in musical

scores. New playing techniques were also developed, lending a

distinction to music of this period such as had not previously been

heard.

The more complex nature of Baroque music made a new form of musical

notation a necessity. This is how figured bass was born. Playing

music by reading figured bass required more than rudimentary musical

skills. With this method, the melody line and the bass line are

noted on a traditional musical scale (bass clef and treble clef).

The instrumentalist(s) would fill in the harmony lines based on the

bass note. The harmony part, or the part that was implied but not

written in the score, was known as the continuo.

To play figured bass, it is necessary to have a working

understanding of chords. An instrumentalist reading a score with

figured bass would see the melody notes and the bass notes. The

instrumentalist would assume that the continuo notes that would

accompany would be a standard fifth interval unless otherwise noted.

If another variation was desired, numbers would appear on the score

underneath the bass note indicating the appropriate interval.

Like many trends, the use of the figured bass method became

obsolete. Today, chords are often indicated by abbreviating their

names (i.e.,”C7” for a C major/minor seventh chord). Similar to

figured bass, instrumentalists have some leeway for improvisation

with this type of musical annotation. This is in contrast to music

that has every note for each part annotated on a musical staff. Like

shorthand once was to writing, so was figured bass to music. And

like shorthand, changes in technology and trends have greatly

diminished the use of figured bass.