User manual

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Figured bass

Figured bass is a shorthand that uses gures to specify the harmony above the notated bass

notes. It is particularly common in Baroque and early Classical music and in the parts of

accompanying instruments, such as harpsichords and viols.

Figured bass informs performers about the intended harmony but allows room for

interpretation, such as improvised arpeggiated phrases using notes from the chord.

Figures use a combination of Arabic numbers, accidentals, and horizontal hold lines to specify

both the intervals above the bass note that make up the chord and its duration. For example,

they show where suspensions resolve or when the bass note changes but the chord remains the

same.

A basso continuo part with gured bass below the staff

In Dorico SE, gured bass exists globally at the corresponding rhythmic positions by default

because most music that includes gured bass is tonal, meaning players perform notes from the

same chord. Therefore, you only have to input

gures once, but they can appear above multiple

or no staves as required and the gures automatically update according to the notes on each

staff. However, in some circumstances it is necessary to specify different chords for different

players at the same rhythmic position. In such cases, you can input local

gured bass.

Dorico SE calculates and saves the pitches implied by the gures you enter in relation to the

lowest note at that rhythmic position. This semantic understanding of the harmony implied by

gures allows Dorico SE to update the displayed gures on different staves and if you transpose

or change the pitch of notes.

When you transpose music that includes gured bass, Dorico SE also transposes the gures

accordingly.

Figured bass in Dorico SE uses a bold roman font by default.

You can hide or show gured bass in each layout independently and only above the staves of

specic players. You can also change whether gured bass appears above or below staves by

default in each layout independently.

Figures appear as signposts if Dorico SE either does not

normally show them, such as third intervals, or cannot identify the bass note for them, such as

on a rest.

NOTE

Figured bass does not yet include notations commonly used for harmonic analysis, such as

Roman numerals. This is planned for future versions.