Basso continuo, or continued bass.
The bass line of a Baroque work with instruments, and the instruments which play it. Same as thoroughbass. The standard body of continuo players consists of a cellist playing the bass line and a keyboard player playing and improvising on it, though the continuo line can be (and often is) double by any number of bass instruments. It provides the underpinning for Baroque composition. (See also figured bass.)
(cohn-TEE-noo-oh) (Italian) — An extemporized chordal accompaniment for recitativo secco, usually by a harpsichord, cello or double bass. Opera seria often used an ensemble of harpsichord and theorbo (a member of the lute family). Opera buffa used a single keyboard and string bass.
Bass line accompaniment by two or more instruments in which one instrument (cello, bassoon, etc.) plays the bass line and the second (usually keyboard) fills in harmonies above it; characteristic element of much music composed in the 17th and 18th centuries.
a bass part written out in full and accompanied by numbers to indicate the chords to be played
a bass line that repeats throughout an entire work, or section of a work
in Baroque music, the bass part
or Figured bass, a bass line accompanied by figures which represent various chords and harmonic devices
A bass line, usually in Baroque music, written to a keyboard instrument in an ensemble where the keyboard player creates chords above a given bass note by interpreting the numbers written under the slave. See figured bass.
a tinkling sound, usually made on a harpsichord and often inaudible, played by organists and pianists to make them feel useful
A set of chords continuously underliying the melody in a piece of baroque music; the instruments playing the continuo, usually cello plus harpsichord or organ.
the small group of instruments that accompanies the recitatives in baroque music.
An independent bass line continuing throughout a piece on the basis of which harmonies are extemporized on keyboard or chord-playing instruments. In Baroque music, the continuo would usually consist of a harpsichord or organ with a cello reinforcing the bass line.
From basso continuo, a type of accompaniemnet common during the Baroque period, usually made up of a keyboard instrument and a cello and bass violin.