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 Elements, 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 Elements 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

gures allows Dorico Elements 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 Elements also transposes the

gures accordingly.

Figured bass in Dorico Elements 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 Elements 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.